Lewisburg is a former town in and the first county seat of Conway 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 area is a

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

of Morrilton which is located in the southeast part of the city.

History

Founded as a

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

in 1825 by Stephen D. Lewis, the town of Lewisburg served as the first

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 Conway County from 1831 until 1883, when it was replaced by Morrilton. While thriving as a town of nearly 2,000 residents along 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 ...

up to 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 ...

, Lewisburg was the site of significant Federal troop movements between September 1863 and August 1865. Frequented by intermittent guerrilla warfare late in the American Civil War, repeated

skirmish Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to Screening (tactical), screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They may be deployed in a sk ...

ing between Arkansas militia and the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

during

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

led to

conflagration A conflagration is a large fire in the built environment that spreads via structure to structure ignition due to radiant or convective heat, or ember transmission. Conflagrations often damage human life, animal life, health, and/or property. A c ...

of Lewisburg and the declaration of

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

under Governor

Powell Clayton Powell Foulk Clayton (August 7, 1833August 25, 1914) was an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served as the 9th List of Governors of Arkansas, governor of Arkansas from 1868 to 1871, as a Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

in December 1868. Desirability of Lewisburg as a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

crossing on the Arkansas River was superseded as years passed, first by the

Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad The Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad was a railroad that operated in the state of Arkansas, United States, between 1853 and 1875. It came to national prominence when its bonds were the subject of a scandal involving Republican presidential can ...

bypassing the town in 1875, and later with a bridge constructed in 1919 to carry vehicular traffic onward to Oppelo and other points south of the river.

References

External links

Lewisburg in the Civil War
an
Old Lewisburg
at the

Historical Marker Database The Historical Marker Database (HMdb.org) is an online database that documents locations of numerous historical markers and commemorative plaques in the United States as well as other countries. The database was launched in 2006 by computer progra ...

{{Authority control Neighborhoods in Arkansas 1825 establishments in Arkansas Territory American Civil War sites in Arkansas Former county seats in Arkansas Former towns in the United States History of Conway County, Arkansas Morrilton, Arkansas Populated places established in 1825 Stagecoach stops in the United States Trading posts in the United States Trail of Tears

History

References

Further reading

External links