March 8, 2012

Calico Rock (Izard County), which developed as a steamboat landing on the White River, was originally known as Calico Landing. Much of the town, as shown in this early 1900s photograph, was safely constructed on a bluff overlooking the river. Calico Rock became a boomtown in 1902, when construction began on the railroad and the settlement became the headquarters for railroad construction crews. That same year, the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railway opened rail service there.