Chalk Bluff was an unincorporated community in

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, United States, approximately two miles (3 km) northwest of St. Francis. The town was formed in the 1820s at the point where the

St. Francis River The St. Francis River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States. The river drains a mostly rural area and forms part of the Missouri-Arkansas state line along th ...

cuts through

Crowley's Ridge Crowley's Ridge (also Crowleys Ridge) is a geological formation that rises 250 to above the alluvial plain of the Mississippi embayment in a line from southeastern Missouri to the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas. It is the most p ...

from west to east. The name of the community was derived from the white clay bluff created by this crossing. The founder of the community was Abraham Seitz, who established and operated a ferry crossing and general store in the area from the 1830 until it was destroyed during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. The community occupied a strategic location and was often referred to in the reports of Union and

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

forces vying for control of Northeast Arkansas during the war. Several skirmishes occurred near the ferry crossing, one of which was significant it enough to become known as the Battle of Chalk Bluff, which took place in early May 1863. The town was abandoned following the Civil War and most residents moved to the new railroad town, St. Francis, Arkansas. The location was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1974. The site is now home to the Chalk Bluff Battlefield Park which commemorates the May 1863 battle and to the Chalk Bluff Natural Area.

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* 1820s establishments in Arkansas Territory American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places Conflict sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Former populated places in Arkansas Geography of Clay County, Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Clay County, Arkansas Parks in Arkansas Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas {{US-ghost-town-stub

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