Ashley County is a rural South Arkansas county with a culture, economy, and history based on timber and agriculture. Created as Arkansas's 52nd county on November 30, 1848, Ashley County has seven incorporated municipalities, including Hamburg, the county seat and Crossett, the most populous city. The county is also the site of numerous unincorporated communities and ghost towns. The county is named for Chester Ashley, a prominent lawyer in the Arkansas Territory and U.S. senator from the state from 1844 to 1848.
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlooking the Ouachita River, the city developed because of the river. The recorded history began in 1782 when a Spanish military post was established on the site of an old French trading post called Écore à Fabri. When Ouachita County was formed in 1842, American settlers changed the name to Camden. The city became an important port during the steamboat era when Camden became known as the “Queen City” of the Ouachita. In 1864, Camden became the unintended focus of the Red River Campaign, a major Civil War effort resulting in several significant battles.
The Ouachita River is a 605-mile-long (974 km) river that runs south and east through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It is the 25th-longest river in the United States.
The Camden Expedition Sites is a national historic landmark consisting of nine nationally significant historic places in southwest Arkansas where events of the Union army's disastrous Camden Expedition of 1864 occurred during the American Civil War. The Union was attempting to take over Shreveport, Louisiana. Each of the sites are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a national historic landmark on April 19, 1994.
Fort Lookout, also known as Redoubt A, is a defensive earthworks erected during the American Civil War on the outskirts of Camden, Arkansas. It was the northernmost of a series of five redoubts built in defense of the city by Confederate Army forces in early 1864, preparatory to the Union Army's Camden Expedition. The site has been designated a National Historic Landmark as part of the Camden Expedition Sites, a collection of military sites related to the expedition.
The Bragg House is a historic house in rural Ouachita County, Arkansas. It is a two-story Greek Revival house located about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Camden, the county seat, on United States Route 278. The house is basically rectangular in plan, with a hip roof. Its main entrance is sheltered by a two-story temple-style portico, with four columns topped with Doric capitals, and a turned-baluster railing on the second floor. Peter Newport Bragg began construction of the house in 1842, but did not complete it until 1850. The house was built out of virgin lumber sawn on Bragg's sawmill by his slaves; it remains in the hands of Bragg's descendants.
Holly Grove Cemetery is a historic cemetery, located on the south side of Crooked Bayou Drive, 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of McGehee, Arkansas. The cemetery is the only surviving remnant of the community of Trippe Junction, established in 1857 by the families of William Fletcher Trippe and his brother-in-law Benjamin McGehee. A railroad spur line was constructed to the area in 1877, and a small town grew up around it. By the 1920s all of its businesses had failed, and by 1930 all but one building had succumbed to fire. The Holly Grove Methodist Church adjoined the cemetery, and was the site of many funeral services. The church was serving as a school when it burned in 1913. In 1958, a group of citizens raised money to assist with maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery. A bicentennial marker was erected by the Desha Historical Society in 1974. The southern section of the cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Mt. Zion Methodist Church is a historic church in rural Dallas County, Arkansas. The church is located on County Road 407, roughly 2.5 miles northeast of Carthage. The wood frame clapboarded structure was built c. 1910, and is virtually unaltered since its construction. The main facade has two doors, and features very simple vernacular styling. The church is notable for its well-preserved interior.
The Carolina Methodist Church is a historic church in rural Nevada County, Arkansas, United States, about 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Rosston, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Moscow Methodist Church and Cemetery is a historic landmark that was built in 1864 and added to the National Register in 2006. The former community of Moscow is located just outside the current city limits of Prescott, Arkansas. The area is on or near the old "Moscow-Camden Road", or "Wire Road" which ran between Moscow and Camden, Arkansas. As of 2016, the location was known as the junction of Nevada County Roads 23 and 260.
The Camden Confederate Monument, also known as the Confederate Women's Memorial, is located on the grounds of the Ouachita County Courthouse in Camden, Arkansas. The sculpture, carved out of Italian marble, depicts a woman dressed in the period of the American Civil War, standing with her feet together, clutching a flagpole. The sculpture is mounted on a block of North Carolina granite, next to a tall obelisk. The statue is 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. The obelisk is inscribed on three sides, recognizing the valor of women in the Confederate cause, and the organizations that funded the memorial's construction. The memorial was erected in 1914 by the local chapters of the United Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Harvey's Grocery and Texaco Station is a historic retail establishment at 3241 Arkansas Highway 24, between Camden and Chidester, Arkansas. The single-story concrete block building was built in 1940 by Henry Harvey, replacing a log structure that had previously housed his retail establishment. The building is one of the best-preserved examples of 1940s vernacular general stores and gas stations in the Camden area. The style of the building is, despite its modern construction materials, reminiscent of 19th century retail buildings, with a small windows placed high on the sides, and a full-width front porch. The Harveys pumped gas until 1979, after which the tanks were removed. Harvey's was also a locally notable stop for politicians on the stump in Arkansas: those who are known to have stopped here were Bill Clinton, David Pryor, and Jay Dickey.
The SS Homer was a sidewheel paddle steamer which plied the waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Built in 1859 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, she was 148 feet (45 m) long, 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. Her first significant service was in 1860, when she was used as a packet steamer on the Red and Ouachita Rivers, under master and co-owner Samuel Applegate. In 1861, after the start of the American Civil War, she was contracted to the government of the Confederate States of America, and was used to transport men and war materiel. She was used to supply the defenders of Port Hudson, Louisiana, in 1864. That year she was captured by the Union Army forces of General Frederick Steele when she was about 30 miles (48 km) below Camden, Arkansas on the Ouachita River. Steele was at the time engaged in a major expedition whose goal was to reach Shreveport, Louisiana, but had stalled due to Confederate resistance and a lack of supplies. Steele had then occupied Camden, and it was during this occupation that the ship was taken, loaded with grain and other supplies. The Union forces piloted her back to Camden.
The Ben Laney Bridge is a historic bridge carrying U.S. Route 79 Business over the Ouachita River in Camden, Arkansas. The steel Pratt truss bridge was built in 1945–47, and dedicated to Acting Governor Benjamin Travis Laney. Its construction was delayed due to a shortage of steel. The bridge consists of three trusses with a total span of 129 feet (39 m), resting on reinforced concrete piers and abutments. The bridge also includes a 548-foot (167 m) approach of I-beam decking, which was built in 1934.
The Leake–Ingham Building is a historic commercial building in Camden, Arkansas. It is located behind the McCollum-Chidester House at 926 Washington Street NW, and is part of the Ouachita County Historical Society Museum. It is one of the oldest commercial buildings in Camden. The single-story Greek Revival structure was built c. 1850 by William Leake, a prominent Camden attorney, and has a distinctive Greek temple front. It was originally located on a prominent corner of the city, at Washington and Harrison Streets. Leake operated a law practice from the building until 1866 with various partners, after which it was used to house government offices, and later Camden's first library. Threatened with demolition in the 1950s, it was moved several times before its acquisition by the historical society.
Oakland Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Camden, Arkansas, located on Maul Road between Pearl Street and Madison Avenue. Established in 1830, it is the city's oldest cemetery. It consists of just over 7 acres (2.8 ha) of land donated in that year by William L. Bradley, one of Camden's founders. It is the burial site of many of Camden's leading citizens. Among them is James Thomas Elliott (1823–1875), a former Confederate soldier who represented Arkansas's 2nd District as a Republican.
The Old Camden Post Office is a former post office building at 133 Washington Street SW in Camden, Arkansas. The two story Romanesque Revival structure was built in 1895, and is one of the city's finest brick buildings. It was described, shortly after its construction, as the "finest building between Little Rock and Texarkana". It originally housed the post office on the ground floor and the Federal Land Office on the second floor.
The Ouachita County Courthouse is located at 145 Jefferson Avenue in Camden, Arkansas, the seat of Ouachita County. The two-story brick and concrete structure was designed by Little Rock architect Thomas Harding, and completed in 1933. The architecturally distinctive building exhibits a restrained Colonial Revival style (which was then passing out of fashion, with elements of Art Deco. It is a T-shaped building with symmetrical wings flanking a Classical style columned and gabled portico.
The Palarm Bayou Pioneer Cemetery is a historic cemetery in a rural-suburban area of northern Pulaski County, Arkansas. It is located northwest of Maumelle, between the Arkansas River Trail and Palarm Creek, on a rise that is now part of the gated Mountain Crest residential subdivision. The small cemetery, with just ten marked graves, stands at the top of a rise north of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. Nine of the graves are surrounded by a low stone wall, while one is set outside that enclosure, surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The oldest of the marked graves is that of Daniel Wilson, who died in 1837. The cemetery is probably one of the county's oldest.
The St. John's Episcopal Church is a historic church at 117 Harrison Street in Camden, Arkansas. It is a large cruciform structure, built out of brick with trim of concrete cast to resemble stone. Its Gothic features include buttresses at the corners and along the sides, and pointed-arch openings for entrances and windows at the gable ends. The church was built in 1925-26 for a congregation established in 1850; it was designed by the Texarkana firm of Witt, Seibert & Halsey. It is the city's only Episcopal church.
