March 27, 1984

The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism acquired the site of the Conway Cemetery and assumed maintenance and supervision. Conway Cemetery State Park, near Walnut Hill (Lafayette County) in southwest Arkansas, preserves a half-acre cemetery containing the grave of the state’s first governor, James Sevier Conway. Conway was governor of Arkansas from 1836 to 1840 and a member of “The Family,” a powerful dynasty that dominated early Arkansas politics. During his tenure in office, he was responsible for a budget surplus and many of the state’s initial institutions, including roads, a prison system, and a state bank. Conway Cemetery State Park is the second-smallest Arkansas state park.