Rockport is a city in Hot Spring County in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

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 ...

. As of the 2010 census, the population of Rockport was 755, down from 792 in 2000.

History

Rockport is one of the oldest named places in Arkansas. Although the present city is overshadowed by Malvern, Rockport served as 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 Hot Spring County from 1846 to 1879 and was a landmark community of Arkansas for many years both before and after that time.

European exploration and settlement through early statehood

Large

novaculite Novaculite, also called Arkansas Stone, is a microcrystalline to cryptocrystalline rock type that consists of silica in the form of chert or flint. It is commonly white to grey or black in color, with a specific gravity that ranges from 2.2 to 2. ...

boulders in the bed of the Ouachita River made the location of Rockport ideal as both a river crossing and a resting place for weary river travelers. These boulders gave the community its name. A plaque in Rockport states that Spanish explorer

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...

visited the location in 1541, although current historians are less certain about the exact route that de Soto and his group traveled while west 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 ...

. French hunters and trappers definitely forded the river at this location. The Hunter-Dunbar Expedition struggled to navigate the rapids here on December 3, 1804, recording their experience in a travel diary. During the 1830s, the development of the Military Road (also called the

Southwest Trail The Southwest Trail was a 19th-century pioneer route that was the primary passageway for American settlers bound for Texas. History The Southwest Trail, also known as the Old Military Road, replaced the older Natchitoches Trace, which ran f ...

) used the boulders as a ford to cross the river. Around 1847, a bridge was completed across the Ouachita River at Rockport, which is said to be the first toll bridge built in Arkansas. Over the years, it repeatedly washed away and was rebuilt. By that time, the settlement was already populated. Its most famous citizen was politician Lorenzo Gibson, who built a house on a bluff overlooking the river and who became, in 1837, Rockport's first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

. Other early settlers were Colonel A. R. Givens, Henry Miller, and Samuel Emerson, who is credited with laying out the city and opening its first hotel. Three doctors and a lawyer also made their homes in Rockport while Arkansas was still a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

. Hot Spring County was formed in 1829, with its county seat at Hot Springs (Garland County), but the seat of county government was moved to Rockport in 1846. At that time, the city already had a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

, a shop where wagons were built, stores, and residences. A

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

church was meeting in a private home as early as 1815; its first building, a log structure, was erected in 1836. Rockport

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Church began holding services in 1849 and also housed Rockport's first school. New Hope Baptist Church was established in 1859.

American Civil War through the Gilded Age

A new county courthouse was dedicated in 1860, just a few months before the outbreak of the Civil War. The Hot Spring County Hornets were the first of several military units to form in Rockport. A skirmish was fought at Rockport on March 25, 1864. Federal forces under 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 ...

camped near the nearly abandoned city, building a

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...

to cross the river on the following day. Following the war, the Cairo and Fulton Railroad offered to build tracks through the area with a depot in Rockport, but their offer was declined by city leaders. As a result, the tracks were located farther south, and the city of Malvern was established. That same year, 1873, a major fire devastated Rockport, destroying the county courthouse among other structures. Also that year, Garland County was created, greatly reducing the size and population of Hot Spring County. As a result of all three events, county leaders decided to build a new courthouse in Malvern, and the county government was moved there in 1879. The population of Rockport began to decline. The Ouachita Falls Lumber Company was a major employer in Rockport at the time, but lumber companies and brick factories in Malvern increasingly drew jobs to the newer city.

Early twentieth century through the modern era

After several false starts due to financial difficulties, developers managed to complete a plan to build an iron bridge across the Ouachita River to replace the older wooden bridge that had been washed away. The structure itself was begun on August 10, 1900, and completed on November 6 of the same year, with a dedication ceremony and community meal on November 8. The bridge was put 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 1992, only to be removed after it was damaged by storms and flooding in 1987 and 1990. The last vestiges of the wreckage were salvaged from the Ouachita River in 2004. During the Arkansas Centennial Celebration in June 1936,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

visited the State of Arkansas. After morning events in

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

and lunch with businessman Harvey Couch, the president and his party attended a service at the Methodist church in Rockport, which was followed by a parade. After the parade, the group traveled to

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

for additional festive observances.

Geography

Rockport is located in northeastern Hot Spring County and is bordered to the south by the city of Malvern, the

Interstate 30 Interstate 30 (I-30) is a major Interstate Highway in the southern states of Texas and Arkansas in the United States. I-30 travels 366.76 miles from Interstate 20, I-20 west of Fort Worth, Texas, northeast via Dallas, and Texarkana, Texas ...

passes through Rockport, with access from Exit 98 ( U.S. Route 270 east). 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 ...

, Rockport has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 676 people, 303 households, and 235 families residing in the city.

2000 census

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 792 people, 324 households, and 238 families residing in the city. 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 348 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.44%

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 ...

, 2.40%

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 ...

, 1.26% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.13%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, and 1.14% from two or more races. 0.63% 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 ethnicity of any race. There were 324 households, out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.7% 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, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.86. In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.2% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,250, and the median income for a family was $40,750. Males had a median income of $26,875 versus $21,146 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 city was $15,299. About 2.5% of families and 5.2% 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 3.1% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Almost all of Rockport is served by the Malvern School District, while a small portion is in the Magnet Cove School District.
2010 map
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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockport, Arkansas 1837 establishments in Arkansas Cities in Arkansas Cities in Hot Spring County, Arkansas Former county seats in Arkansas Populated places established in 1837