calsfoundation@cals.org
June 11, 1892
Ashdown (Little River County) was incorporated. It grew from a small agricultural community, first known as Turkey Flats, then Keller, and finally Ashdown. It was named by Judge Lawrence Alexander Byrne, who owned several sawmills in the area and who reportedly, following a fire at his Keller mill, stated that, though his mill had “burned down to ashes,” he was going to found a town there named Ashdown. Ashdown is located in the far southwestern corner of Arkansas, about nineteen miles north of Texarkana (Miller County). The town lies among rich, fertile land, ideal for growing cotton, soybeans, rice, corn, wheat, and other crops. However, its greatest industry is timber.