NEA communities endure the test of time

Some of the region’s oldest communities have recently marked the anniversary of their incorporation dates.

Smithville, Lawrence County

Smithville turned 172 on Jan. 10, after it’s official incorporation in 1851, but it’s history goes back further than that.

Once a thriving trading center near the Strawberry River, it was actually the county seat of present-day Lawrence County at one time, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas website.

The area was originally settled around 1808 by the Nathaniel McCarroll family, who was joined over the next several decades by many other settlers, most arriving from places such as Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri.

In 1837, the redrawing of county lines forced Lawrence County to move its county seat from Jackson, which is no longer extant that was located in present-day Randolph County near Imboden, and the town of Smithville was founded as the new location of county government.

Named in honor of Colonel Robert Smith, a veteran of the War of 1812 who had made a donation to the county to establish the new seat, Smithville built a courthouse and jail and the town quickly blossomed into an important trade center.

In 1868, Arkansas’s Republican Reconstruction government lopped off the western part of the county to form Sharp County and ordered the county’s seat moved from Smithville to Clover Bend, which was a huge blow to the town.

Between 1870 and 1880, Smithville’s population dropped from 1,144 to 350.

Although the town was still a fairly lively trading center by the 1930s, the Great Depression and World War II proved hard for many locals, who would leave to serve in the military or to find better-paying jobs and never to return.

The town’s dwindling population resulted in the school’s consolidation with Lynn Public Schools in 1946.

Today, Smithville has a population of only 87, according to the 2020 Census, but it remains abundant in history.

Jacksonport, Jackson County

Jacksonport is another once-thriving community that is steeped in history as it turned 170 years old on Dec. 17.

Located in central Jackson County, the once-bustling river town’s location at the convergence of two waterways enabled Jacksonport to thrive in a time when river transport was the most reliable method of transportation in Arkansas.

Native Americans and French hunters utilized the rivers near Jacksonport and the abundance of game and thick forests at the time attracted fur trappers.

The land was wild and sparsely populated when Jackson County was established in 1829, however riverboat pilot Thomas Tunstall realized its potential in 1831.

Though Tunstall never actually lived in Jacksonport, he is credited as the town’s founder because he opened the first store in the region and likely drafted the first plat in 1833.

Jacksonport was formally incorporated in 1852, before beginning its short stint as the Jackson County seat the following year.

Even though there are no surviving census figures for Jacksonport before 1870, it was estimated to have between 800 and 1,200 in population at its peak.

Growth and commercial trade were halted by Arkansas secession and the beginning of the Civil War. Throughout the war, Jacksonport was a strategic objective for both sides, as the transport of supplies was heavily dependent upon control of local rivers, which made it the site of many military events.

In 1872, its importance as a trade center began to diminish when Jacksonport was bypassed by a railroad built through Newport, which would become the new county seat.

By 1900, the population of Jacksonport had dwindled to 265, and, in 1944, the schools at Jacksonport were consolidated with Newport.

With a population 150 residents, it is now a quiet, little community, distinguished by its state park, which is also the locale of the Portfest “Rollin’ on the River” Festival, which draws thousands of visitors each summer.

Powhatan, Lawrence County

Powhatan is another of Lawrence County’s former seats to enjoy a birthday this month as it turned 170 on Jan. 12.

According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas website, this river town was the county seat of government for almost 95 years.

Founded in the early nineteenth century, the town was the county’s most important port on the Black River until it too was bypassed by the railroad in the 1880s, after which the town began a steady decline and is best known today as the site of the historic Powhatan Historic State Park.

One of the earliest settlers was John Ficklin, who began operating a ferry on the Black River in 1820.

In the 1830s, the Military Road connected Pocahontas in Randolph County and Jacksonport in Jackson County, which also allowed Powhatan to be connected to Smithville as well in 1836.

Though a small settlement began to develop, it was 1849 before the town would be platted by John A. Lindsay.

When the town incorporated in 1853, it boasted a population of approximately 500.

However Civil War war had a negative impact on the development of Powhatan as well, and the slowly developing zinc industry, which had begun about 1857, had all but disappeared by the outbreak of the war and commercial traffic on the river almost ceased with the advance of Union forces into Arkansas. Military forces from both sides marched through the area. In fact the Smithville Skirmish was fought some four miles to the east.

With the return of the river commerce after the war, the town began to slowly recover and by 1869 a county commission and subsequent election relocated the seat of government once again, this time to Powhatan.

However the prosperity would not last, as the negative impact of the Great Depression on local farmers and businessmen further threatened the town’s future, as did the closing of the Black River ferry in about 1935.

After several failed attempts, the county seat was relocated again to Walnut Ridge by popular vote on August 27, 1963.

In the 1960s, the Lawrence County Historical Society, in cooperation with the Lawrence County Development Council, headed a drive to preserve the courthouse and its collection of historic documents.

In 1979, the property, which had been transferred to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, was used to in creating the Powhatan Historic State Park, which included other restored structures such as the jail, the Powhatan Male and Female Academy, the telephone exchange, and the Ficklin-Imboden Log House.

Also in 2011, the Arkansas State Archives opened a new facility housing the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives, which is an important repository of many of the earliest documents recording the history of the state.

With a population of 104 residents on the 2020 Census, the town now plays an important part in preserving both local and state history.

Osceola, Mississippi County

Located on the mighty Mississippi River along the historic Highway 61, and just off Interstate 55, Osceola, which just saw its 170th anniversary on Jan 12, according to the Mississippi County Museum website.

According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas website, Osceola is named for Chief Osceola of the Seminole tribe, who supposedly visited the area to explore the possibility of exchanging Florida land for Arkansas land, but no historical evidence supports this story.

The community was the only county seat of Mississippi County until 1901, when Osceola and Blytheville were named dual county seats.

The original settlement was established as Plum Point in 1837, and while the town saw its first courthouse in 1833, Osceola wasn’t incorporated until 1853 and then again in 1875 when Mississippi County was formed from a portion of Crittenden County.

In 1853, the town had 250 residents and a half dozen businesses as Osceola began to flourish thanks once again to steamboats that made their appearance, this time on the on the Mississippi River, which expanded the activity and commercialization of the area.

Osceola also actively supported the secession of Arkansas from the Union in May 1861, with the Battle of Plum Point on the Mississippi River near Osceola being one of the most notable in 1862. Today the Oceola has grown to more than 6,976 people according to the 2020 census.

Pocahontas, Randolph County

Pocahontas also has a rich history as it recently marked 166 years since its incorporation.

According to the Arkansas Municipal League website, since native American tribes, Cherokee and Osage, lived in the area before white settlers came and made the Ozarks their home, the northwestern Arkansas town, Pocahontas, was named after the famous Indian princess.

By 1815, it became a settlement owned by Ranson S. Bettis, who was a trader and physician. After he set up a trading post, his daughter, Cinderella, married a man named Thomas Stephenson.

Known as the Metropolis of the West, Pocahontas became the official county seat in 1835 and was incorporated in 1857.

Today Pocahontas has a population of about 7,371, according to the 2020 Census.

Here are the incorporation dates (in chronological order and by county) of some more of the oldest NEA communities:

Sharp, Evening Shade, April 26, 1870 (153 in 2023)

Clay, Corning, Feb. 5, 1873 (150 in 2023)

Jackson, Newport, Oct.16, 1875 (148 in 2023)

Lawrence, Walnut Ridge, Oct. 29, 1880 (143 in 2023)

Randolph, Ravenden Springs, Aug. 18, 1881 (142 in 2023)

Craighead, Jonesboro, Feb. 16, 1883 (140 in 2023)

Greene, Paragold, March 21, 1883 (140 in 2023)

Poinsett, Harrisburg, Feb. 24,1883 (140 in 2023)

Lawrence, Black Rock, Oct. 23, 1884 (139 in 2023)

Clay, Greenway, March 13, 1886 (137 in 2023)

Lawrence, Portia, May 19, 1886 (137 in 2023)

Clay, Rector, Sept. 13, 1887 (136 in 2023)

Clay, St. Francis, Aug. 4, 1888 (135 in 2023)

Lawrence, Hoxie, Feb. 15,1888 (135 in 2023)

Cross, Wynne, May 29, 1888 (135 in 2023)

Lawrence, Alicia, Aug. 7, 1889 (134 in 2023)