Marble Falls (known as Marble City from 1840 to 1883, Willcockson from 1883 to 1934 and Dogpatch from 1966 to 1997) is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Newton County,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It lies along
Arkansas's National Scenic 7 Byway between
Harrison
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
and
Jasper
Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...
. The Marble Falls Post Office is located in the parking lot of the now defunct theme park called
Dogpatch USA
Dogpatch USA was a theme park located in northwest Arkansas along State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was based on the comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', created by cartoonist Al Capp ...
. For a time, the town was known as Dogpatch to promote the theme park.
Marble Falls is part of the Harrison
Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Settlement
A Choctaw Indian named Ah-Che-To-Mah was the first settler known to have acquired title to land in the vicinity of Marble Falls. The waterfall once supplied power for a flour mill, cotton gin, and a saw mill. Peter Beller built the original water-powered grist mill there ''circa'', and this mill was later rebuilt and remodeled by several different owners.
Marble City, Arkansas (1840 to 1883)
The community was originally named Marble City, after the marble that was quarried nearby. Marble City became known as a health resort in the 1880s, through the advertisements of businessmen such as Dr. Silas Scruggs Stacey, proprietor of the Stacey family store and provider of Dr. S. S. Staceys Sulpher Mountain Bitters (which sold briskly for $1 per bottle).
In 1836, William Harp and his brothers, Elijah and Samuel, with Peter Bellah quarried a large block of marble at Marble City by drilling and wedging. They put the marble on a log wagon and, with ten yoke of oxen to pull it, moved it 60 miles across the Boston Mountains to the Arkansas River near Clarksville, where it was shipped to Washington, D.C. The block of marble (with" Arkansas" chiseled on it), along with other memorial stones, is located on the 30 foot level of the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...
.
Willcockson, Arkansas (1883–1934)
The first post office was established September 24, 1883, and the first postmaster, Mander Willcockson, officially renamed the community Willcockson. On October 29, 1917, Ida T. Chesbro was appointed U. S. Postmaster of Willcockson. Absalom C. Phillips,a local preacher, added the cotton gin about 1890. After 1900, the town began to fade away, and the mills and gin were destroyed sometime in the early 1900s. By 1915, many began to leave the area due to economic depression.
Marble Falls, Arkansas (1934–1966 and 1997 to present)
Albert Raney, Sr.
Albert Raney Sr. is the patriarch of the Raney family. He and his family lived and presumably still live along Arkansas' National Scenic 7 Byway between Harrison and Jasper, and have had a major impact on the history of that area.
In the early tw ...
, who became postmaster in 1934, had the official name changed to Marble Falls.
[Lackey, Walter F. ''History of Newton County, Arkansas'', Point Lookout, MO: S of O Press, 1950.]
Dogpatch, Arkansas (1966–1997)
When the Raney property was purchased in 1966 by the developers of
Dogpatch USA
Dogpatch USA was a theme park located in northwest Arkansas along State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was based on the comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', created by cartoonist Al Capp ...
, Governor
Orval Faubus
Orval Eugene Faubus ( ; January 7, 1910 – December 14, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 36th Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, as a member of the Democratic Party.
In 1957, he refused to comply with a unanimous ...
and some developers had the area's postal designation changed to Dogpatch, and it would appear that way on highway maps. The theme park closed in 1993, and in 1997 the citizens of the area voted unanimously to change the postal designation back to Marble Falls, the name it has today.
Skiing (1972–1980s)
The only lift serviced skiing ever in Arkansas was offered at the Marble Falls Resort beginning circa 1972 and lasting until the 1980s.
See also
*
Mystic Caverns and Crystal Dome
Mystic Caverns and Crystal Dome are show caves located between the cities of Jasper, Arkansas, Jasper and Harrison, Arkansas, Harrison, in the state of Arkansas, U.S., on the Arkansas Highway 7, Arkansas Highway 7 Scenic Byway near the defunct amu ...
External links
Newton County Historical Society
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Arkansas
Unincorporated communities in Newton County, Arkansas
Harrison, Arkansas micropolitan area
Populated places established in 1840