Hopefield was a small community on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Crittenden County, Arkansas Crittenden County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 50,902. The county seat is Marion, and the largest city is West Memphis. Located in the Arkansas Delta, Crittenden County is Arkan ...

. Its location is near or included within the current limits of the city of

West Memphis, Arkansas West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 26,245 at the 2010 census, ranking it as the state's 18th largest city, behind Bella Vista. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is ...

. It was a ferry crossing point to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and was served by an east-west rail line built by the

Memphis and Little Rock Railroad The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad was chartered in the U.S. state of Arkansas in 1853. The line ran from Hopefield, Arkansas (now West Memphis) on the east, to Huntersville (now North Little Rock, Arkansas) on the west. The eastern third was co ...

that eventually became a mainline of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway. During the American Civil War General

Stephen Hurlbut Stephen Augustus Hurlbut (November 29, 1815 – March 27, 1882), was an attorney and politician, who commanded the U.S. Army of the Gulf in the American Civil War. Afterward, he continued to serve as a politician and also as a diplomat. Althoug ...

had the town burned to combat rebel activity. It was rebuilt, hit by a series of

Yellow Fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemics, and diminished by erosion. Hopefield Chute, an Ox Bow also called Dacus Lake, and Hopefield Lake are in the area, as well as some remains. G. W. Watson moved there. The area was once known as Camp Esperanza under Spanish rule. In the 1840s there were plans to develop land in the area. Several locations in the area were surveyed and marked. An 1880 report discusses the area being quarantined with mounted men stationed to patrol it.

References

Ghost towns in Arkansas Geography of Crittenden County, Arkansas {{CrittendenCountyAR-geo-stub