DeVall's Bluff, officially the City of DeVall's Bluff, is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of the southern district of Prairie County,

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. The population was 619 at the 2010 census.

History

Prairie County has always been important to Arkansas for the transportation of people and goods throughout the state. Initially, it was the White River that gave the agricultural county its importance for transport, since waterways were the primary means of long-distance transportation in the period before the development of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s. Prairie County was cut from

, Pulaski,

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

, St. Francis, and

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

counties in 1846 and included present-day Lonoke County. European settlement in Prairie County came in the 19th century, with Jacob M. DeVall and his son, Chappel, becoming the first recorded settlers around DeVall's Bluff according to 1851 tax records.

Civil War

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the city was a trading center on the White River, which continued to be the primary shipping corridor when the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

was innavigable. A railroad connection between

North Little Rock North Little Rock (often abbreviated "NLR") is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. Located on the north side of the Arkansas River, it is the twin city of Little Rock. In the late nineteenth century, it was annexed by Little Ro ...

and DeVall's Bluff gave the city further strategic importance. Union forces traveling up the White from

Arkansas Post The Arkansas Post (; ), officially the Arkansas Post National Memorial, was the first European colonization of the Americas, European settlement located along the Mississippi River, in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and in the present-day U. ...

under the command of Brigadier General Willis Gorman captured DeVall's Bluff on January 18, 1863. However, the Union forces eventually returned to Arkansas Post, and the city returned to Confederate control. Following the capture of Little Rock, Union cavalry led by Brigadier General

John W. Davidson John Wynn Davidson (August 14, 1825 – June 26, 1881) was a brigadier general in the United States Army during the American Civil War and an American Indian fighter. In 1850, he co-led the Bloody Island massacre of 60-200 Pomo old men, women ...

joined with gunboats under the command of Lieutenant George Bache in Clarendon on August 9, 1863, and traveled up the White River to capture DeVall's Bluff. Major General

Frederick Steele Major General Frederick Steele (January 14, 1819 – January 12, 1868) was an American military officer who served in the Army in the Mexican-American War, Yuma War, and American Civil War. He is most noted for capturing the Arkansas state capi ...

proceeded to DeVall's Bluff from

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

, and the city was used to house supplies and injured Union soldiers for the remainder of the war.

Geography

DeVall's Bluff is located at (34.784760, -91.460346). The city is located within the

Grand Prairie Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson county. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a popul ...

section of Prairie County, a subdivision of the

Mississippi embayment The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its conflu ...

within the

Mississippi Alluvial Plain The Mississippi River Alluvial Plain is an alluvial plain created by the Mississippi River on which lie parts of seven U.S. states, from southern Louisiana to southern Illinois (Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Lo ...

. Historically, the Grand Prairie was a flat grassland between the

and the White River. However, the area was subject to clear cutting for row agriculture by early settlers. Today, the area is defined by rice cultivation,

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

and duck hunting. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (6.42%) is water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 783 people, 334 households, and 218 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 389 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 67.82%

, 31.80%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.13% Asian, and 0.26% from two or more races. 0.13% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 334 households, out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.96. In the town the population was spread out, with 28.6% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $21,534, and the median income for a family was $32,708. Males had a median income of $28,088 versus $16,771 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $13,582. About 18.4% of families and 23.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 28.7% of those under age 18 and 22.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Hazen School District Hazen School District is a school district in Prairie County, Arkansas, headquartered in Hazen. In addition to Hazen, it includes DeValls Bluff, Fredonia (Biscoe), and Ulm. The mascot is the hornet, and it has two schools: Hazen High School ...

is the area school district, and operates Hazen High School. The

DeValls Bluff School District DeValls Bluff School District No. 1 (DVBSD) was a school district headquartered in DeValls Bluff, Arkansas. It had two schools: Devalls Bluff Elementary School and Devalls Bluff High School. The mascot was the scrapper. The DeValls Bluff distric ...

consolidated into the Hazen district on July 1, 2006.ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls
."

Arkansas Department of Education The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) is a cabinet-level agency of the Arkansas state government overseeing public education for K-12, higher education institutions, and career and technical education. The ADE also contains the Arkansas ...

. Retrieved on October 13, 2017.

References

External links

* * * {{authority control Cities in Arkansas Cities in Prairie County, Arkansas County seats in Arkansas 1856 establishments in Arkansas Populated places established in 1856