My wife Sharon and I took a road trip the end of last week down to Jacksonport, Arkansas. Jacksonport State Park is located there and is a wonderful place for a history lesson on the development of the White River.
The park has the last remaining steamboat to have operated on the White River, the Mary Woods No. 2. The boat was built in Nashville, TN as a coal steamer in 1931, was converted to diesel in 1949, and was retired in 1967. The boat was built for the Woods Lumber Company and pushed barges of logs on the White River. It was named after the daughter of the owner of the company, Eugene Woods, Sr. In 1997, a tornado came through Jacksonport State Park and severely damaged the boat which had been decorated out as a passenger boat. It was restored to its original intent as a work boat at that time.
Another fascinating piece of history at the park is the old court house which was built from 1869-1872 by a confederate Colonel and with bricks made there at Jacksonport. Jacksonport was by-passed by the railroad when the town refused to sign the right-of-way. The railroad was put in three miles down the road at Newport instead, and Jacksonport died on the vine along with the steamboats. As I lay in my tent at the park Friday night and listened to the train whistles, it made me wonder how the town’s people felt about the transition from the steamboat whistles to the newer train whistles which by-passed them. After being renovated, the court house opened as a museum in 1965. The court house too was damaged in the 1997 tornado and and underwent renovation again in 1999.
We also learned a lot about the pearling industry. The park interpreter, Donna Bentley, lead an excellent campground program on it Friday evening.
On the way to Jacksonport, Sharon and I drove through the Buffalo River Valley from Boxley to Jasper and then again back on the return trip. Friday morning we arrived late enough the elk were already gone out of the field. On Saturday evening we saw many elk, including a nursing calf. The bull elk which just days ago had antlers in velvet, now sport bright and shiny new antlers. The rut cometh. No elk photos in this photo blog, but there are a few elk photos in the previous photography blog post which you can check out.
Enjoy the photos.
© 2009, Scott Branyan
Thursday afternoon I had an appointment in Little Rock and later that night there was a seminar I wanted to attend at Petit Jean Mountain. The trip down and back held some scenic possibilities, so I left early Thursday morning so I could take some backroads.
I left Rogers before first light and caught a good omen at Pinnacle Hills where I saw a meteor from the Perseids shower as I was looking west past I-540. I headed to the Buffalo River Valley at Ponca and watched the elk for a few minutes. Before descending into foggy Boxley Valley I enjoyed riding the ridge and watching the sunrise. From Boxley I headed south on Hwy. 21 and turned east on Hwy. 16 to the Limestone cuttoff. The gravel road goes down into the Limestone Valley where the headwaters of Big Piney Creek start. This valley is about 1,000 feet deep from the rim and is one of the deeper valleys in the Boston Mountains. It is extremely rugged terrain although the forest service road is good for the most part.
Just west of the junction of highways 21 and 16 are found the headwaters of the White, the War Eagle, the Kings, and the Buffalo, which all flow north and east into a much larger White River further downstream. To the south are the beginnings of the Mulberry River and the Piney Creeks which flow south into the Arkansas River.
The largest stand of cane I have ever encountered I saw in the valley around Limestone. The cane was about 30 feet high and bending over the road. A cut-through had been hacked out for a driveway back to a cabin. Coming up out the other side of the valley the road heads to Ozone where it meets Hwy. 21. This part of the national forest is heavily logged.
From Clarksville I hightailed it to Little Rock for an afternoon meeting at the federal building. Before my meeting I visited Murray Lock and Dam and the “Big Dam Bridge”—a pedestrian bridge built across the Arkansas River on top of the dam structure. This was a cooperative project between the county and the Corps of Engineers and has become a very popular place for walkers and cyclists.
After an afternoon meeting with the Corps of Engineers, I drove to Petit Jean State Park for an archeology seminar and stayed in one of the cabins at the state park. The next morning I ate breakfast in the lodge and visited a few of the overlooks.
On the return trip, I headed to Mt. Magazine and drove the park road from Havana to Paris over the mountain which is the highest point in Arkansas. The visitor’s center has some unique presentations on animal tracks and the butterfly displays are worth noting. I enjoyed several of the overlooks and scenery and even happended upon a wedding on the north rim. From there I headed west on Hwy. 22 to Fort Chaffee and drove past the old barricks. I turned north on highway 59 and drove over the James W. Trimble Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River. Taking old 71 north I stopped off at the new Lake Fort Smith visitor’s center north of Mountainburg.
A whirlwind tour of some great scenery and history.
Here are the photos.
© 2009, Scott Branyan