County: Scott

Buffalo (Scott County)

Buffalo is a historical community in southern Scott County located along U.S. Highway 71. The community was established along Buffalo Creek. The agriculture and timber industries have contributed to the economy and way of life in Buffalo. Prior to European exploration, the area surrounding Buffalo was a wilderness. Several species of wildlife that no longer inhabit the area, such as elk and buffalo, were present throughout the region. Numerous archaeological sites and burial mounds can be found along the banks of prominent waterways such as the Fourche La Fave River. Archaeological findings have provided evidence of early inhabitants dating to the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. Further archaeological evidence has indicated that the people of the Caddo tribe later inhabited the area. During the late …

C. E. Forrester House

The C. E. Forrester House is located on Danville Street near the Commercial Historic District in Waldron (Scott County). The house was built in 1896 by prominent businessman and philanthropist Charlie Edward (C. E.) Forrester. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 3, 1998. Charlie Forrester was born in Parks (Scott County) in 1871. He began his career in Waldron by working in his father’s general store. He eventually bought out his father and began the Forrester-Goolsby Corporation. His commercial ventures expanded to three Main Street businesses selling groceries, dry goods, and hardware. Forrester also began dealing in cotton and timber, and establishing several sawmills throughout the area, including the county’s largest planing mill, in …

Cauthron (Scott County)

The town of Cauthron is an unincorporated community located in western Scott County along Highway 28. The town was established along the Poteau River, which runs west into eastern Oklahoma. Cauthron was incorporated circa 1876; however, the area was initially known as Piney. Piney was never officially an incorporated town, and it is unclear when the area began being called Cauthron, although it was likely in the 1870s when the first governmental buildings were being built. Before European contact, the wilderness area’s first inhabitants included natives from the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. The Caddo later made their homes along the Poteau River and other waterways in the area. It is probable that during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth …

Cedar Creek (Scott County)

The unincorporated community of Cedar Creek is located along Highway 28 in eastern Scott County. The town was established in 1852 near the Fourche La Fave River between two of its tributaries. Originally, Cedar Creek was broken up into two different communities that were about three miles apart: Little Cedar and Big Cedar. The communities were named after the two tributaries of the Fourche La Fave River: Little Cedar Creek and Big Cedar Creek; to avoid confusion, the residents simply began calling the area Cedar Creek. Before European exploration, Cedar Creek was a wilderness containing various species of wildlife, some of which no longer inhabit the area. Early inhabitants included peoples of the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. Several hundred …

Chandler, Florence Clyde

Florence Clyde Chandler was a plant geneticist with a broad background in tree-breeding and the induction of polyploidy (the quality of having one or more extra sets of chromosomes) in flowering plants. Her exceptional success inducing polyploidy in the nuclei by using colchicines resulted in the production of a series of outstanding tetraploid and diploid verbenas. During World War II, she worked at the Guatemalan experimental station as a cinchona (a type of evergreen tree) breeder, where she furthered the successful development of a derivative for quinine, a malaria remedy. Born on September 28, 1901, in Oliver (Scott County) to William Festus Chandler and Nannie Charlotte Shannon, Florence Chandler was educated at the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington …

Chant (Scott County)

Chant is a historical community in southern Scott County located along Highway 71. At various times known as Pleasant Valley and Texas, the town was established in 1906 near the Fourche La Fave River and Mill Creek between Boles and Y City. Agriculture has contributed significantly to the economy and way of life in Chant. Prior to European exploration, the area surrounding Chant was a wilderness. Several species of wildlife that no longer inhabit the area, such as elk and buffalo, were present throughout the region. Numerous archaeological sites and burial mounds are located along the banks of prominent waterways such as the Poteau River. Archaeological findings have provided evidence of early inhabitants dating to the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian …

Coaldale (Scott County)

Coaldale is an unincorporated community in western Scott County located along Highway 28 West. The town was established in 1903 and named for the extensive coal mines that were established in the area. Mining was a significant industry in Coaldale, along with agriculture and timber. Prior to European exploration, Coaldale was a wilderness lush with native vegetation and numerous species of wildlife, some of which no longer inhabit the area. Archaeological findings have provided evidence of early inhabitants dating to the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. Further evidence has indicated that the people of the Caddo tribe later inhabited the area. During the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, French hunters and tradesmen traveled west from the Arkansas Post along …

Colburn Spring (Scott County)

Colburn Spring is a historical community located in northeastern Scott County. The community was established south of the Petit Jean River near the Cedar Creek tributary in what is now the Ouachita National Forest. Agriculture and mining contributed significantly to the way of life in Colburn Spring. Prior to European exploration, the area surrounding Colburn Spring was a wilderness. Several species of wildlife that no longer inhabit the area, such as elk and buffalo, were present throughout the region. Numerous archaeological sites and burial mounds can be found along the banks of prominent waterways such as the Petit Jean River. Archaeological findings have provided evidence of early inhabitants dating to the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. Further archaeological evidence has …

Cold Spring

Cold Spring is located along County Road 93, just south of Forest Service Road 19 along Sugar Creek, in northeastern Scott County. The structure surrounding the spring was built around 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 21, 1993. The Cold Spring structure was built by the 1707th Company of the Arkansas CCC District, which was stationed at the nearby Waldron Camp. The structure was built to help protect the head of the cold spring from contamination and to direct the flow of the water north to Sugar Creek. The conservation project was also an attempt to protect a source of clean water and control erosion of the …

Denton (Scott County)

Denton is an unincorporated community located in western Scott County. Established in 1877 near the confluence of Denton Creek and Ross Creek, the community is named after the Denton family, which settled in Scott County in the 1850s. The agriculture and timber industries have traditionally contributed to the economy and way of life in Denton. Before European contact, the area where Denton is located was a wilderness teeming with native vegetation and wildlife. The area’s first inhabitants included natives from the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. Archaeological discoveries suggest that natives of the Caddo tribe made their homes along the Fourche La Fave River near Denton and other prominent waterways in the area. Throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth …

Elm Park (Scott County)

Elm Park is an unincorporated community located in north-central Scott County along the Petit Jean River between where Highways 378 and 23 form a junction with Highway 71. The date of Elm Park’s establishment is unclear. Agriculture has traditionally been an important way of life in the community. Prior to European exploration, Elm Park and the surrounding area was an unexplored wilderness. Species of wildlife that longer inhabit the area, such as elk and buffalo, were present throughout the region. Archaeological findings have provided evidence of early inhabitants dating to the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. Additional archaeological evidence has indicated that the Caddo tribe had a strong presence along the Petit Jean River and other prominent waterways. Throughout the …

Evening Shade (Scott County)

Evening Shade is an unincorporated community in north-central Scott County located along Highway 28 West. The community was established at the base of Poteau Mountain, which played an important role in naming the community. Agriculture has traditionally been important to the area. Prior to European exploration, Evening Shade was a wilderness with native vegetation and numerous species of wildlife, some of which no longer inhabit the area. Early inhabitants were present during the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods. There are numerous archaeological sites located along the Poteau River near Evening Shade, and evidence from these sites indicates that the Caddo Indians once lived in the area. Throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, French trappers and explorers traveled west …

Forester (Scott County)

Forester was a self-contained sawmill town owned by the Caddo River Lumber Company. It was founded and built by Thomas Whitaker Rosborough in 1930 in southeastern Scott County. At first, a prominent Waldron (Scott County) businessman wanted the mill built in his town, but after hearing that Rosborough intended to employ African Americans, this businessman was happy with the chosen location and later was instrumental in getting the railroad extended from Waldron into Forester. The mill became the largest and most productive in the state, with its huge lumber shed measuring eighty feet wide and 1,000 feet long and storing millions of board feet of kiln-dried, planed lumber. The company town was named after Waldron businessman Charles A. Forrester. Contractors …

Gate (Scott County)

The town of Gate is a historical community that was located in southern Scott County near the Polk County border. The community was originally established along a gated toll road (now Nella Road) and was subsequently named because of the actual “gate” that controlled the flow of traffic along the road. Gate was originally situated between the junction of Johnson Creek and Cedar Creek, which are tributaries of the Fourche La Fave River. Prior to European exploration, Gate was a wilderness lush with native vegetation and numerous species of wildlife, some of which no longer inhabit the area. Early inhabitants of the area were present during the Woodland, Archaic, and Mississippian periods. There are numerous archaeological sites located along Clear …

Gipson (Scott County)

Gipson is an unincorporated community in northwestern Scott County just south of Highway 28. The community was established circa 1887 just south of Bates along the Poteau River. Agriculture has traditionally been important in the area. Prior to European exploration, Gipson was a wilderness lush with native vegetation and numerous species of wildlife—including buffalo and elk, which no longer inhabit the area. Archaeological evidence from the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods has been discovered throughout the area. Additional evidence has indicated that the Caddo tribe had a strong presence along the Poteau River and other prominent waterways. Throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, French trappers and explorers traveled west from the Arkansas Post along the Arkansas River. From …