The Huttos had come to Arkansas before the Civil War, and the town they settled had originally been called Huttotown—until another set of Sam’s ancestors, the Browns, decided to find a name with a more biblical flavor. “Damascus” sounded like a place that would one day be important, a worthy rival to Jerusalem, Arkansas, about thirty miles to the west.
Had anything ever happened with Jeruselem, Damascus would have been unable to compete. But, over a century later, the two towns were neck-and-neck on just about any metric one could devise.
