August 27, 1963

Citizens of Lawrence County voted to move all county functions from Powhatan—which had been selected as county seat in 1869 and had once been a flourishing center of business, commerce, and government—to Walnut Ridge. The community of Powhatan had been declining since the Kansas City-Memphis Railroad bypassed the town in 1883. Removing the county functions set the stage for the rebirth of Powhatan as a historic community and its designation as Powhatan Historic State Park in 1970.