Pine Bluff

City, port, and administrative headquarters of Jefferson County, southeast Arkansas, USA; population (2000) 55,100. It is situated on a high bluff overlooking the Arkansas River, 40 mi/64 km south-southeast of Little Rock. It is an industrial and agricultural marketing center. Industries include paper, cotton, grain, furniture, farm implements, electrical transformers, lumber and wood products, textiles, and chemicals. The Pine Bluff Arsenal, with chemical and biological warfare laboratories, is in the city, as is the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (1873).

Originally known as Mount Marie, the site was settled in 1819 as a trading post and renamed in 1832. A Civil War battle took place here on October 25, 1863, when a Federal brigade under Powell Clayton defended the city against the Confederate forces of John S Marmaduke.