Mound City is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Crittenden County, Arkansas. Mound City township covers an area of 25.4 square miles. In 2009 it had a population of 318; 162 males and 156 females. Mound City is located about northwest of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

and near

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

s that in the past were the main course of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. The river has changed its course and is now about east of Mound City.

History

Pre-European Civilization

The community was named to honor the numerous prehistoric Native American earthen mounds which are found in the surrounding area. The mounds have not been thoroughly investigated and are threatened by the expansion of the city of

West Memphis West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 24,520 at the 2020 census, ranking it as the state's 20th largest city. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is located directly acro ...

, Arkansas. The mounds may be a manifestation of the

Marksville culture The Marksville culture was an archaeological culture in the lower Lower Mississippi valley, Yazoo valley, and Tensas valley areas of present-day Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and extended eastward along the Gulf Coast to the Mobile Bay ar ...

dating between 500 BCE and 500 CE.

Antebellum Period

According to Goodspeed's History of eastern Arkansas, Mound City was an important trading post in the 1850's and 1860, with many stores and hotels. However, by the 1890's, all of this commerce was gone from the area. On June 5, 1862, Federal troops disembarked on the Mississippi River at Mound City and captured the area. The First Battle of Memphis was fought on June 6. On February 13, 1863, Federal troops burned communities in the area in retaliation for a

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 ...

raid on a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

and barges plying the Mississippi River. Racial tensions in Mound City were high between former

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

slaves and whites after the war. Mound City AR 005

21st Century

A former plantation known as Mound City and dating from about 1900 has been renovated and the existing sharecropper houses and commissary are vacation rentals and an events facility.

References

External links

Mound City web site
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Crittenden County, Arkansas Unincorporated communities in Arkansas