Entry Category: Polk - Starting with B

Big Fork is an unincorporated community in the Ouachita Mountains of Polk County at an elevation of 308 m (1,020 ft.). It is located on Arkansas Highway 8, about 29 km (18 mi.) east of Mena (Polk County). After 1820, a large westward expansion brought settlers to Arkansas, and the Ouachita Mountains attracted many people from northern Georgia to Big Fork. Land in western Arkansas was fairly inexpensive and easy to obtain, and an early settler did not have to pay taxes for five years on land purchased. There were many pioneer families who migrated from Georgia to Big Fork, including the Abernathy, Bates, Beck, Dilbeck, Edwards, Goss, Smith, Turner, and Vandivier families. Some early families of Big Fork also …