White River played crucial role in Jacksonport history

LITTLE ROCK — While Newport's history is more interwoven with the railroad line, it is Jacksonport, now just a speck of a town, that has a rich history with the White River.

Now mostly a state park, Mark Ballard, the superintendent of Jacksonport State Park, literally walked through some of the history of the park.

"The river played a crucial role here," he said on the deck of the Mary Woods No. 2, a paddleboat that once worked the river. "Since the river, most of the time, was navigable, you had boats working, and Jacksonport was a major port. It opened up trade between here and Memphis. It was very important to the state."

Jacksonport became a town in 1839, shortly after the state was founded in 1836, when Thomas Todd Tunstall purchased the land and established the city, but the spot had been occupied for years by trappers, and some researchers claim that Hernando de Soto spent the winter there in 1541-42. Tunstall's role in the early history of the White River was critical not just for establishing Jacksonport, but he was also the first steamboat pilot to go up river to Batesville in 1831.

Jacksonport became the county seat in 1854, and the courthouse was completed in 1872. The courthouse is also part of the state park, but thecounty seat moved to Newport in 1892.

The Jacksonport State Park entry of The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture lays out the history of how the railroad played a key role in that decision.

"The Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad was busy building track through Jackson County," the entry reads. "When the railroad requested $25,000 to build a spur to Jacksonport, the town refused, anticipating that the railroad would build it anyway. However, the railroad built its bridge over the White River at Newport, three miles downstream. The railroad boosted Newport's economy, and Jacksonport declined; years later, a spur was built to Jacksonport, but by then, it was too late."

Jackson County hasn't forgotten the role of Jacksonport, and the park hosts the annual Portfest each year.

- jpeppas@ arkansasonline.com