Lake Charles State Park

We decided to take a fall camping trip to an area where we had never camped before. Lake Charles State Park took us to northeast Arkansas near Walnut Ridge. Being mid-week and early November the crowds were gone with only about ten of the sixty campsites occupied. Our campsite was #70 which was right on the water. All of the campsites were clean and well maintained as is typical with Arkansas State Parks. 

This was our Arkansas history camping adventure. There is a lot of Arkansas history in this area due to commerce in the 1800's on the Black River and the White River to the south at Jacksonport. While in the area we visited five other state parks: Davidsonville Historic State Park, Powhatan Historic State Park, Crowley's Ridge State Park, Lake Frierson State Park and Jacksonport State Park. 

Below is a short video compilation from our trip with photos and videos of Lake Charles State Park along with Cavenaugh Park Guitar Walk and Beatles Park in Walnut Ridge.

Tuesday morning we walked the Cedar Trail. Cedar Trail is a paved trail that follows a portion of the Lake Charles shoreline from the campground to the picnic area. 

An afternoon road trip took us to the first stop on our northeast Arkansas history tour. After reading about the area we found that in nearby Walnut Ridge was a section of Arkansas highway 67 dubbed "The Rock 'n' Roll Highway 67". This area was frequented by the likes of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis, along with noted Arkansans Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Sonny Burgess, and Billy Lee Riley. The Beatles also stopped at a nearby municipal airport en route to a vacation in Missouri. At Walnut Ridge's Beatle Park there is a life-sized sculpture depicting the Beatles from the cover of their Abbey Road album and a few blocks away is the 115' Guitar Walk at Cavenaugh Park. The Guitar Walk is a colored concrete walkway in the shape of an Epiphone Casino electric guitar popular with musicians of the era.

Walnut Ridge Guitar Walk at Cavenaugh Park

Wanda Jackson and Roy Orbirson

Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins

Johnny Cash and Billy Lee Riley

Conway Twitty and Sonny Burgess

Elvis Presley 

Beatles Park on Abbey Road in Walnut Ridge

Wednesday we drove to Davidsonville Historic State Park. 

Before Arkansas was a territory, the land known today as Arkansas was a part of the Missouri Territory. In January 1815, the Missouri Territorial Assembly established Lawrence County, consisting of roughly the northern half of present-day Arkansas and a portion of southern Missouri. Missouri Governor William Clark then appointed commissioners to choose a suitable place on which to erect public buildings and establish the permanent seat of justice. The commissioners located and purchased a piece of land on the banks of the Black River from five Frenchmen. It was decided that this town would not develop as a random collection of houses and businesses, but instead would be laid out according to a surveyed plan. Thus, Davidsonville became the first platted (or planned) town in what would later be known as Arkansas. The plan consisted of a large public square surrounded by eight blocks, each containing six lots, and a strip of land referred to as “the commons” that lay between the town and the Black River. The streets of Davidsonville were carefully surveyed to be 57 and 3/4 feet wide, indicating the town planners expected Davidsonville to grow into a bustling, prosperous city. Davidsonville is the site of the earliest post office in Arkansas, with Adam Ritchey officially appointed Postmaster on June 28, 1817. Ritchey was the first of five postmasters at Davidsonville. Mail arrived by horseback roughly every 30 days en route from St. Louis to Arkansas Post. Completed in 1822, the two story brick courthouse in Davidsonville was the first in the state. Although the court house was not finished until 1822, court had already been held in private homes and businesses in Davidsonville. On July 8, 1818, the first Lawrence County court session was recorded. Stephen F. Austin, famed as the founder of Texas, briefly presided over the Lawrence County Circuit Court before heading on to Texas. Court continued to meet in the Lawrence County Courthouse at Davidsonville until 1829. Many original, handwritten court records from Davidsonville still exist today.

Davidsonville Historic State Park Visitor Center

None of the original structures of Davidsonville remain today. The layout of the Davidsonville Town Site is demarcated by sign posts identifying the corners of the town streets. Steel "ghost structures" have been erected around the site to provide a visual perspective of the size and location of important structures.

Wednesday morning I was able to take some drone photos and video around the campground. There was still some pretty fall color in the trees.

Site #70

A few miles down highway 25 from Lake Charles State Park is Powhatan Historic State Park. 

Rapid growth and community development marked the period following 1869. Upon selection of Powhatan as county seat, three commissioners were selected to choose the site for a new courthouse. The first courthouse, completed in 1873, burned in 1885. Due to the commission's foresight of buying a fireproof vault, county records were saved, some dating to 1813. The citizens erected a second two-story courthouse, built with brick salvaged from the first courthouse, and additional new brick for the façade, on the same foundation, laying the cornerstone on May 10, 1888. In 1963, voters consolidated two county seats into one at Walnut Ridge, and in 1966, county officials departed Powhatan for the last time. In 1968, Governor Winthrop Rockefeller sent a team of specialists from Williamsburg, Virginia, to visit and evaluate the building’s potential. Shortly thereafter, the Lawrence County Development Council and the Powhatan Courthouse Restoration Committee formed to raise funds for restoration. The courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in February of 1970. Restoration began in January of 1971 and ended in 1973.

Long before the city of Powhatan was incorporated in 1853, the Osage Indians occupied the area. ln 1817, the Federal Government moved them to reservations outside the state. The first steamboat to arrive at Powhatan "The Laurel" was in 1829. Cargo and passengers arrived and embarked from sternwheelers and keel boats, and crossed the rivers on ferries. Ficklin Ferry, on the Black River, was once described as "the most accessible point at all seasons of the year from Jacksonport to Pocahontas." In 1837, John Ficklin established a ferry on the Black River and built a house on the hill northwest of the ferry. Historians give Ficklin credit as the town’s founder. This ferry, later called the Powhatan Ferry, increased in importance into the 1880s, and helped make Powhatan the chief shipping point for a large territory. Steamboat passengers boarded at Powhatan to travel down the Black and White Rivers, then up or down the Mississippi to their final destinations. Steamboats carried passenger and cargo of timber, cotton, game and anything that needed moving from one place to another. Powhatan began its decline when the Frisco Railroad bypassed the town, roads improved, and rail travel began to overtake river passage as the preferred method of transportation.

The courthouse sits atop a hill which according to the park interpreter is the beginning of the Ozark mountains. At the the base of the hill you can stand with one foot in the Mississippi delta and the other in the Ozark mountains.

For lunch Wednesday we went into Walnut Ridge and found The Post Bakery and Bistro. The building was built in 1935 and served as the Walnut Ridge Post office until 1977 when a new post office was built. It was then sold to the Times Dispatch newspaper and housed their offices and printing press. No major exterior or interior changes were required for this new usage and the building is now on the National Register of Historic Places for its local significance. 

The Post Bakery and Bistro now occupies the building where we had delicious lunch and returned the next day for coffee and a sample of their baked goods. 

Thursday was our last full day of camping and with impending rain we decided to take a little drive to see nearby Crowley's Ridge State Park and Lake Frierson State Park. 

Crowley's Ridge State park was our first stop of the day. Left as an erosional remnant from the natural forces of rivers 40 million years ago, Crowley’s Ridge stands 100 to 200 feet above the fertile plains of the Delta in eastern Arkansas. The ridge was named for Benjamin F. Crowley, a soldier during the War of 1812 whose land grant was the first pioneer settlement in this part of the state. Crowley’s Ridge forms a narrow arc of scenic rolling hills extending from Cape Girardeau, Missouri into the northeast corner of Arkansas down to the Mississippi River at Helena. Located near Paragould in lower Greene County at the site of Benjamin Crowley’s original homesite, Crowley’s Ridge State Park is situated on the western slopes of the ridge amid stately pines and hardwoods. Once a campground for Native Americans, the park offers visitors swimming and fishing in spring-fed lakes, shaded campground and picnic areas, and scenic nature trails. The park was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) beginning in 1933, establishing it as one of the six original state parks in Arkansas. Today, those original native stone and wood structures create a setting of rustic serenity among the natural surroundings.

The picture below is what happens when an old fat guy sets a 10 second time delay for a photo but doesn't have time to run around the fence and through the gate to get in the picture. Finally made it work by starting my the timer and starting my run from the same side of the fence where Donna was standing. 

Lake Frierson State Park was out second stop on Thursday adventure. Located just 10 miles north of Jonesboro, Lake Frierson State Park is a haven for both fishermen and nature-lovers alike. This beautiful 114-acre park is situated atop scenic Crowley's Ridge, a unique geological phenomenon which rises 100-200 feet above the surrounding delta and stretches from Cape Girardeau, Missouri to Helena, Arkansas. The park sits on the eastern shore of Lake Frierson, a 335-acre fishing lake managed by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. Excellent catches of bass, bream, crappie and catfish are routinely reported. Since 1975, Lake Frierson State park has provided both recreation and environmental education to park visitors.

Lake Frierson State Park Visitor Center

Lake Walcott is located across the highway from Lake Frierson State Park.

After packing up camp on Friday we headed south on highway 67. We stopped at Newport for a visit to Jacksonport State Park. 

Jacksonport was an important trade center in early Arkansas due to its location near the confluence of the Black and White Rivers. In 1834, Thomas Todd Tunstall purchased land where he later established the town of Jacksonport. As the area prospered and grew, the town developed into a busy steamboat port and became the county seat in 1854. Steamboats from the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers landed at the town year-round loaded with timber, bear grease, cotton bales, and wild game. During the Civil War, Jacksonport was occupied by both Confederate and Union armies due to its strategic location. Five generals used the town as their headquarters. On June 5, 1865, Confederate General Jeff Thompson, “Swampfox of the Confederacy,” surrendered more than 5,000 troops to Lt. Colonel C. W. Davis at the Jacksonport steamboat landing. 

John A. Schnabel constructed the brick courthouse with a limestone foundation from 1869 to 1872. The massive beams supporting the mansard roof are hand-hewn from the heartwood of native cypress. The courthouse opened for business in 1872 with the main entrance facing the White River and the town's business district on Jefferson Street. Goldentongued oratory once rang through the halls, and political “speakings” were given from the balconies. The spacious courtroom hosted both dreadful murder trials and Mardi Gras balls. The Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad began laying track through Jackson County—but not through this town—in the 1870s. As the railroad industry prospered and steamboat transportation declined, Jacksonport slowly began to die without railroad access. A spur was later added, but it was too late to save the town. For 25 years Jacksonport continued to be an important steamboat landing, and though the town kept its faith in the river, trade and life eventually passed it by. 

The county seat moved to Newport in 1892, and Jefferson Street, with its mercantile houses, wharves, livery stables, and saloons, slowly vanished. In 1962, the Jackson County Historical Society purchased the Jacksonport Courthouse with privately donated funds. Restoration began the next year. In 1964, a portion of the town including the courthouse square and the steamboat landing was bought by the society. Jacksonport opened as a state park in 1965. The Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage & Tourism has continued restoration and development of the park with the support of the historical society. In 1970, the courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2019, a new visitor center was constructed.

Jacksonport State Park Visitor Center

Steamboat Ronnie

The White River at Jacksonport