I have fallen in love with Randolph County. While I remembered it fondly from earlier visits, I recently spent three days in the area while attending the annual convention of the Arkansas Historical Association. Randolph County, and its vibrant county seat of Pocahontas, has special appeal to those interested in the history of our state and region.
The same rivers which have recently inundated much of eastern Randolph County were important to the settlement and development of the county. The Black River, on which Pocahontas developed, provided year-round steamboat access to the area. Other major rivers are the Current, the Spring, and the Eleven Point.
Located on the Southwest Trail, the area that would become Randolph County began attracting American settlers not long after the area was acquired from the French with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Settlement was facilitated by William Hix, who established a ferry across the Current River perhaps as early as 1804. The ferry was later sold to Peyton Pitman; during the Civil War it was the site of multiple military engagements.
The first town in what would become Randolph County was Davidsonville on the Black River. Established in 1815, Davidsonville was the scene of several firsts. The first post office in Arkansas was established at Davidsonville in 1817. Five years later, the first courthouse in the state was built there. Davidsonville is today a state historic park.
Unfortunately, none of the structures from historic Davidsonville have survived. However, two venerable log structures exist from elsewhere in Randolph County. Located in the Dalton Community in the northwestern part of the county are two of the oldest surviving structures in Arkansas, the William Looney Tavern and the Rice-Upshaw House.
The Rice-Upshaw House is the older of the two historic sites, having been constructed in 1828 by rural merchant and tradesman Reuben Rice to serve as a store and loom house. A log granary, built in the 1820s, also survives. Though illiterate, Rice prospered.
Just across the Eleven Point River from the Rice site is the William Looney Tavern. The story-and-a-half log structure was built about 1833, and according to preservation specialist Joan Gould of Fayetteville, "is one of the finest examples of vernacular architecture in the state."
Both the Rice-Upshaw House and the Looney Tavern are owned by Black River Technical College in Pocahontas.
Among the other early settlers in Randolph County were Ransom Bettis and Thomas S. Drew. Drew, who married Bettis' daughter Cinderella, and his father-in-law became major landowners and traders. Their Black River settlement was first known as Bettis Bluff, but the name was changed to Pocahontas in 1835 when Randolph County was created out of Lawrence County. Pocahontas won an election to be the county seat, though rumors continue that much alcohol and barbecue were involved in winning the contest. Thomas S. Drew would go on to win the governorship in 1844.
Pocahontas is beautifully situated on the western bank of the Black River at the spot where the rich Delta flatland gives way to the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. Dominating the city is the majestic old Randolph County Courthouse, completed in 1875. Today, county government is housed in a 1940 courthouse of art deco style.
In addition to Pocahontas, other incorporated towns in Randolph County are Biggers, Maynard, O'Kean, and Ravenden Springs. The county population in 2010 was 17,969.
While no major Civil War battles were fought in Randolph County, it was the scene of much skirmishing, the largest occurring in October 1862 when Union forces captured Pitman's Ferry. Pocahontas is also known as the location where Confederate General M. Jeff Thompson--the "Swamp Fox of the Confederacy"-- and his staff were surprised and captured in 1863 without a shot being fired.
A bit of diversity came to Randolph County during the 1880s and 1890s with the arrival of several German-speaking families. Swiss-born Rev. John E. Weibel oversaw the development of several Catholic churches in northeast Arkansas. In his old age, Weibel recalled, "it was neither wise nor practical to begin a settlement in so remote a place without convenience of telegraph or ordinary creature comfort ... But the hills of Pocahontas, to some extent, reminded me of Switzerland, and lured me."
Pocahontas is still luring visitors today. The downtown is vibrant, and one senses a resolve among the locals to keep their city livable. Heritage tourism is growing in the city and county, a result of having preserved its historical resources.
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Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living near Glen Rose in rural Hot Spring County. Email him at Arktopia.td@gmail.com.
Editorial on 05/07/2017