Baxter

Subcategories:
  • No categories
Clear

Entry Category: Baxter

Big Flat (Baxter and Searcy Counties)

  Big Flat is a town on State Highway 14, mostly in southern Baxter County but straddling the Searcy County line. It is just outside the Ozark National Forest. One of the earliest settlements of northern Arkansas, Big Flat long flourished because it was isolated from other settlements by the hills and forests of the region. The town did not incorporate, though, until 1939. Big Flat was named for a plateau in the Leatherwood Mountains of the Ozark Mountain range. For thousands of years, the area was visited by hunters, fishers, and gatherers of food; the Osage came down from what now is Missouri to collect food to bring back to their homes in the north. White settlers began to …

Briarcliff (Baxter County)

Briarcliff is a resort community located on Highway 5 between Mountain Home (Baxter County) and Norfork Lake. It is adjacent to the similar community of Salesville (Baxter County). The first non–Native American family to live on the land that is now Briarcliff was the James Tracy family. They were descendants of a French veteran of the American Revolutionary War who had lived in both North Carolina and South Carolina before moving west to seek new farmland. Tracy arrived in northern Arkansas in the 1850s and purchased land in what was then eastern Marion County. According to family accounts, Tracy was murdered and his store pillaged by freed slaves during the Civil War. His son continued to farm the land after …

Cotter (Baxter County)

Cotter, situated along the White River in Baxter County, emerged in the early twentieth century as an important railroad city of the White River Railway, a division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The city is today well known as a destination for trout fishing, billing itself as “Trout Capital, U.S.A.” Cotter got its start in late 1902 when the Red Bud Realty Company, which was organized by White River Railway attorney Walker V. Powell and certain local citizens, leased land for the railway. About forty acres were reserved for railroad use, including depots, a terminal yard, and an engine facility. The city grew like many other railroad-related boomtowns of the era. The post office was established on January 26, 1903. …

Gassville (Baxter County)

Gassville of Baxter County has a history of settlement beginning in the 1840s. Its level, fertile plain and proximity to the White River made it an ideal location for families to build their homes. It was near enough to the river to provide transportation for marketing crops and far enough from the water to have a healthful climate. The area was originally called “Turkey’s Neck” because of the shape of the bend of the White River. The Mount Pleasant Baptist Church (later the Gassville First Baptist Church) was organized in 1868, making it the second-oldest church in Baxter County. In 1869, twenty-one families arrived by wagon train from Cherokee County, Georgia, led by James Coffee. His father, Colonel James A. …

Lakeview (Baxter County)

Lakeview of Baxter County is one of several cities that came into being as a result of Bull Shoals dam, which was constructed on the White River in northern Arkansas beginning in 1947 and impounds Bull Shoals Lake. Situated on Highway 178 on the southern shore of the lake, Lakeview is adjacent to the Bull Shoals-White River State Park, which, directly and indirectly, provides many of the jobs held by citizens of Lakeview. The earliest settlers in the region were William J. Trimble and his family. Trimble acquired land patents from the land office in Batesville (Independence County) in 1856 and in 1860. Later relatives (whether sons or nephews is unclear) James I. Trimble, John N. Trimble, and William H. …

Monkey Run (Baxter County)

The small community of Monkey Run is located in a narrow valley on the western border of modern-day Baxter County. During its heyday in the early 1920s, it was home to a number of thriving businesses and as many as seven zinc mining operations. The settlement reportedly came into existence with the establishment of the nearby Pilgrim’s Rest Baptist Church in 1872. Early families who helped settle the area included the Hodges, Reeds, Staffords, and Messicks. By the early 1900s, a school had been established and a few businesses were in operation. A name change came sometime shortly after its founding as Pilgrim’s Rest. At least three versions of the story regarding the name change exist, though all concern a …

Mountain Home (Baxter County)

Mountain Home, a small town whose origins date back to the early nineteenth century, is located in north-central Arkansas on a plateau in the Ozark Mountains. The natural beauty of nearby Norfork and Bull Shoals lakes and the surrounding countryside has attracted tourists from around the country for many years. In addition, educational institutions have always played a prominent role in the life of the community. Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood The town was originally known as Rapp’s Barren or Talbert’s Barren. Sources differ on the origin of this name. Local historian Bill Dwayne Blevins attributes the origin to one Henry Rapp, whom he cites as the first permanent white settler, who arrived in the area around 1810. However, other …