Reverie 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 Tipton County,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, United States. In 2001, the population was 11. Over a period of about 24 hours on March 7, 1876, 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 ...

abandoned its former channel that coincided with the Tennessee-Arkansas border, and established a new channel east of Reverie. This places Reverie on the

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 ...

side, while most of the area of Tipton County is located east of the Mississippi River, the Tennessee side. The formation of the new Centennial Cut-off, named for the US centennial, and the abandonment of the stretch of river formerly known as the Devil's Elbow, led to a 1918

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case ('' Arkansas v. Tennessee'') on whether the border should be moved with the river. In 1900, a

mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

skeleton was discovered east of Reverie. In the first half of the 20th century,

archeological artifacts An artifact, or artefact (see American and British English spelling differences), is a general term for an item made or given shape by humans, such as a tool or a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest. In archaeology, the ...

from an aboriginal village dated AD 1400-1650 were found about northeast of Reverie, at the Nodena site.http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/hampsonmuseum/ ArkansasStateParks.com, Hampson Museum

Demographics

According to the United States Census, in 2000 the total population of the Reverie voting precinct was 11. The entire population was non-

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

at that time.

Education

The state of Tennessee pays for the children in the population to attend schools in Arkansas. www.tnhistoryforkids.org

Economy

Agriculture is the dominant source of income in the area surrounding Reverie, especially the cultivation of cotton. After the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

sharecropping Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

was the primary means of income for low income families in the area. Mostly for the cultivation of cotton, land would be used by sharecroppers in return for a share of the crop to the landowner. Modern machines such as the

cotton picker A cotton picker is either a machine that harvests cotton, or a person who picks ripe cotton fibre from the plants. The machine is also referred to as a cotton harvester. History In many societies, like America, slave and serf labor was utiliz ...

have made the manual cultivation obsolete over time as they took over the work from the hand laborers. As a result of the lessened need for agricultural laborers, and very little potential for other forms of employment, the population of the area has dropped precipitously in recent decades. In 2007, there were no industries in Reverie.

History

Founded in the 1800s, Reverie is one of the early settlements in Tipton County. In 1883, a

U.S. Post office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

was opened that in 2007 is no longer in existence.

Prehistoric mastodon skeleton

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

s are members of the

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Mammut'', they resemble modern elephants. Native to North America they lived on the North American

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

from almost 4 million years ago until their eventual disappearance about 10,000 years ago. In 1900,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

James K. Hampson documented the find of skeletal remains of a mastodon on Island No. 35 of the Mississippi River, approximately 3 mi (4.8 km) east of Reverie and 23 mi (37 km) south of

Blytheville, Arkansas Blytheville is the county seat and the largest city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. It is approximately north of West Memphis. The population was 13,406 at the 2020 census, down from 15,620 in 2010. History Blytheville was found ...

. In 1957, the site was reported as destroyed.

Aboriginal village AD 1400-1650

About 4 mi (6.4 km) northeast of Reverie, at the Nodena site, artifacts from a 15

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

(6.1 hectare) aboriginal village dated AD 1400-1650 were found in the first half of the 20th century. A collection of these artifacts is on display at the

Hampson Museum State Park Hampson Archeological Museum State Park is a Arkansas state park in Mississippi County, Arkansas in the United States. The museum contains a collection of archeological artifacts from the Nodena site, which is a former Native American vill ...

Wilson, Arkansas Wilson is a city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The community is located in the Arkansas Delta and is surrounded by fertile cropland historically used to produce cotton. Wilson started as a company town in 1886 by Robert E. Lee Wi ...

. Visiomania.com, Hampson Museum In 1964, the Nodena site was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. In 1966 it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Geography

Location and landscape

Reverie is located at 35.53806 North, -89.99 West. The

coordinates In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The order of the coordinates is sig ...

mark the location of the historical

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. The elevation above sea level is 239.44 ft (73 m). The landscape is dominated by the Mississippi River

flood plains A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

fields Fields may refer to: Music *Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006 *Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971 * ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010) * "Fields", a song by ...

and few trees.

Mississippi River Island No. 35

When the border between Tennessee and Arkansas was established in 1795, it followed the middle of the Mississippi River. At that time, the river ran northwest of Reverie. After the avulsion of 1876, the Mississippi River ran southeast of Reverie, cutting it off from Tipton County. Today, Reverie is surrounded by the modern Mississippi River in the southeast and the sidearms following the 1795 course in the northwest. Although the sidearms are only partially connected most of the time, Reverie is located on what topographically is Island No. 35 of the Mississippi River, because it is surrounded by water on all sides.TopoQuest.com
Topographic map of Mississippi River Island No. 35

County seat Covington, Tennessee

The direct

distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...

between Reverie and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Covington, Tennessee Covington is a city in central Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. Covington is the second largest city and county seat of Tipton County. The city is located in West Tennessee, east of the Mississippi River. The city's population was 9,038 at ...

, is only 18 miles (29 km). As of 2007, the road trip to Covington required the driver to go via

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 longer than 83 miles.

Postal

address An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along w ...

and ZIP code for the community used to be ''Reverie TN, AR 72395''. The ZIP code is cross referenced with

. United States Postal Service recommends using ''Wilson, AR 72395'' for Reverie.

References

Notes

Aerial views of the Reverie area with superimposed state borders illustrate the course of the Mississippi River in this area before and after the 1876 avulsion. The state line is following the pre-cutoff

riverbed A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow ( channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood ...

as of 1795. In 2007, the Mississippi River was located about 3.5 miles (5,6 km) southeast of the Tennessee/Arkansas state border near Reverie. {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Tipton County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee Border irregularities of the United States Tennessee populated places on the Mississippi River