Draughon (Cleveland County)

Draughon was an unincorporated town located three miles northeast of Kingsland in central Cleveland County, on the route of the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway (known popularly as the Cotton Belt) and near the Saline River. The town was one of many in Cleveland County whose its importance was tied to both the timber and railroad industries. As timber began to be depleted, the importance of Draughon began to wane and the town eventually disappeared.  

Brothers Henry C. Draughon and James Harris Draughon—who were born in Waverly, Humphries County, Tennessee—migrated to Texarkana by 1880 where both engaged in the lumber industry, among other business pursuits. By 1887, Henry Draughon relocated to Kingsland, where he continued in the lumber industry and subsequently founded Draughon along with brother James, circa 1892. Henry Draughon, for whom the town was named, served as the first postmaster, having been appointed in 1893, and his brother James succeeded him in that office in 1894. The post office was active from 1893 until 1926, at which time mail was then sent to Kingland. 

The Gates Lumber Company was in operation in 1896–1897, the Saline River Shingle & Lumber Company in 1898, and the Draughon Lumber Company in 1901. In 1897, James H. Draughon—along with J. W. Draughon, L. C. Draughon, A. Draughon, and John E. Burke—filed articles of association with the secretary of state for the Saline River Railway Company, a twenty-five-mile tap line railway, which began at an intersection of the Cotton Belt Railway in Cleveland County and then intersected the Warren and Camden Branch of the Iron Mountain Railway. It eased transportation of timber to sawmills at Draughon and was a subsidiary of the Saline River Lumber Company.  

By 1898, Draughon had a population of 200 with three businesses: the Draughon Lumber Company, the Draughon Stave Company, and the Goodlander-Moore Lumber Company. The town’s population had risen to 300 by 1907, but the only business reported was the Saline River Lumber Company, which had been incorporated the same year. House Bill 160, which passed in 1907, required the Cotton Belt Railway to have a daily passenger stop at Draughon. 

Draughon School was established around 1897 and continued through the early 1930s, at which time it was consolidated with Kingsland. As elsewhere in Arkansas at that time, the schools at Draughon were segregated, and in 1930, there were fifty-five white students. There were twenty-eight students at the African American school. 

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows instituted Draughon Lodge, Number 160, on September 2, 1899. In 1918, the lodge held a patriotic rally and anniversary service at the Kingsland High School auditorium. A Methodist church was established at Draughon in 1916 on land donated by Cleveland County judge Dave Cash. In later years, after church membership declined and the remaining members went elsewhere, the building was conveyed to the Kingsland African Methodist Episcopal Church and was subsequently moved from its original location. The last remaining building at Draughon, the remains of a lumber kiln, was razed by 1970. 

For additional information:
Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Rison: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006. 

A Historical Review of the Timber Industry in Cleveland County, Arkansas. Rison: Cleveland County Historical Society, 2004. 

Melissa A. Nesbitt
Texarkana, Arkansas