Entries - County: Hot Spring - Starting with R

Rockport is one of the oldest named places in Arkansas, and one of several communities that claims it was “almost” selected for the state capitol. Although the present city is overshadowed by Malvern (Hot Spring County), Rockport served as the county seat of Hot Spring County from 1846 to 1879 and was a landmark community of Arkansas for many years both before and after that time. European Exploration and Settlement through Early Statehood Large novaculite boulders in the bed of the Ouachita River made the location of Rockport ideal as both a river crossing and a resting place for weary river travelers. These boulders gave the community its name. A plaque in Rockport states that Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto …

Established in 1851 and expanded for the first time around 1900, the Rockport Cemetery is the oldest burial ground in the Hot Spring County town of Rockport. The oldest sections of the cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 28, 2002. The first settlers in the Rockport area arrived by the 1820s. A post office serving the community opened in 1837, and the settlement became the county seat in 1846. Never a large town, the community did have several churches, stores, and law offices by 1850. Some sources report that land for the establishment of a cemetery was given by John A. Miller in 1851. This is unlikely, as Miller was only fifteen years old …

Rolla is an unincorporated community in Hot Spring County located one mile west of Lono (Hot Spring County) and about fourteen miles south of Malvern (Hot Spring County). Founded as a stop on the Malvern and Camden Railroad, linking the county seat with Camden (Ouachita County), Rolla quickly grew into a bustling community. Due to the proximity of Rolla to the older community of Lono, it is difficult to determine the earliest settlers in the community. The first settlers in the area arrived in the 1840s and began small-scale farming. Richard Jennett obtained eighty acres of land in the area on July 10, 1848. Later that year, Arthur Yates and John Gray both obtained land. Yates appears in the 1850 …