LITTLE ROCK — A Confederate gunboat set afire as Union troops advanced on Little Rock in 1863 will be memorialized with an Arkansas Civil War sesquicentennial historical marker, one of three new markers to be in North Little Rock.
The Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission approved the new markers, all sponsored by the North Little Rock History Commission, the panel announced Wednesday.
The markers will recognize three Civil War-related sites or events in North Little Rock.
The marker for the CSS Pontchartrain will commemorate the Confederate gunboat that was burned in the Arkansas River between the downtowns of Little Rock and North Little Rock to prevent Union troops from seizing it when the capital city was being overtaken Sept. 10, 1863. One of the ship’s cannons sits on the front lawn of the Old State House Museum in Little Rock.
Another marker will recognize Huntersville, part of what is now North Little Rock, that was a development that grew around the terminus of the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad during the Civil War.
The third marker will commemorate the Confederate earthworks built around what is now North Little Rock’s Park Hill neighborhood.
Through the Historical Marker Program, the Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission works with local partners to tell the stories of the Civil War’s effects on communities in Arkansas.
A stated goal of the commission is to place at least one marker in each of the state’s 75 counties during the 150th observance of the 1861-1865 Civil War.
Arkansas, Pages 8 on 03/22/2012