Louisiana Purchase State Park

Beginning Point of the Louisiana Purchase Survey
Nearest city Blackton, Arkansas
Coordinates 34°38′48″N 91°3′5″W / 34.64667°N 91.05139°W / 34.64667; -91.05139Coordinates: 34°38′48″N 91°3′5″W / 34.64667°N 91.05139°W / 34.64667; -91.05139
Area 37.5 acres (15.2 ha)
Built 1815
NRHP Reference # 72000206[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP February 23, 1972
Designated NHL April 19, 1993[2]

Louisiana Purchase State Park is a state park located near Blackton, Arkansas, commemorating the starting point of land surveys made of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. The park encompasses 37.5 acres (15.2 ha) of swampland, a landform which is regionally in decline due to agricultural development practices. The centerpiece of the park is a 6-foot (1.8 m) granite marker place in 1926. The park was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 in recognition for the location's importance in the surveying of much of the western United States.

Description

Louisiana Purchase State Park is located at the eastern end of Arkansas Highway 362, southeast of Blackton, Arkansas, at the tripoint junction of Phillips, Lee, and Monroe Counties. It is a 37.5-acre (15.2 ha) parcel of swampland, which is remarkably unchanged from the time when surveyors came here in 1815. This type of swampland is becoming increasingly rare because of the practice of draining and clearing them for agricultural use. A boardwalk 950 feet (290 m) long leads to the site of the marker, with occasional interpretive signs describing the ecology of the area and the historic significance of the marker.[3]

The marker, dedicated in 1926, is a granite monument 6 feet (1.8 m) in height, and is about 4.5 feet (1.4 m) wide at its base. It typically stands in about one foot of water. Its inscription reads "This stone marks the base established November 10, 1815, from which the lands of the Louisiana Purchase were surveyed by United States engineers. The first survey from this point was made to satisfy the claims of the soldiers of the War of 1812 with land bounties. Erected by the Arkansas Daughters of the American Revolution. Sponsored by the L'Anguille Chapter."[3]

A narrow road emerges from a dense forest of trees
A wooden boardwalk winds through a forest of tall, skinny trees a few inches above swamp water
A granite marker sits in the swamp water surrounded by trees with an inscription detailing its use marking the point of beginning of the Louisiana Purchase surveys and its placement in 1926
Top: Entrance to the park on Highway 362
Middle: Boardwalk leading to the marker
Bottom: The historical marker

History

On April 30, 1803, negotiators for the United States and the First French Empire, signed the Louisiana Purchase agreement, by which the United States acquired 830,000 square miles (2,100,000 km2) of land west of the Mississippi River, doubling its size. President James Monroe ordered a survey of the territory in 1815, in order to permit the orderly award of land in the territory to military veterans of the War of 1812. Prospect K. Robbins and Joseph C. Brown were commissioned to identify a starting point for the survey work in what is now eastern Arkansas. The team led by Robbins traveled north from the mouth of the Arkansas River, while that of Brown traveled west from the mouth of the St. Francis River. On October 27, 1815, Robbins' party crossed the east-west line laid down by Brown's party at this point, formally establishing the Fifth Principal Meridian. The 55 miles (89 km) of land Robbins traversed is even today some of the most difficult terrain in the state to negotiate. Brown's party traversed 26 miles (42 km) of land alternately described as "good for farming" and containing "briers and thickets in abundance". Brown's party eventually surveyed as far west as present-day Little Rock, while Robbins continued north to the Missouri River. Two trees near the site were blazed to mark the meeting point of the two survey lines.[3]

Although survey work based on this point continued in subsequent years, covering most of Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, and North and South Dakota, the initial point was forgotten. It was rediscovered in 1921 by surveyors working the line between Phillips and Lee Counties, who discovered the blazed trees. The Marianna, Arkansas chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution began a campaign to memorialize the spot, culminating the placement of the stone marker and a dedication ceremony on October 27, 1926, the 111th anniversary of the point's establishment.[3]

One forgotten feature of the dedication ceremony was that four local landowners each gave deeds for 2 acres (0.81 ha) of land surrounding the point, which would have created an eight-acre park. The state designated the area a state park in 1961, but appropriated no funds for land purchases or development. The Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, recognizing the swampland's natural significance, provided funds for purchasing the 37.5 acre which now make up the park, and now holds a conservation easement on the property to limit development.[3]

The marker was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and the park was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993.[1]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Louisiana Purchase State Park.

References

  1. 1 2 Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "Beginning Point of the Louisiana Purchase Survey". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-26.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 William D. Baker (September 16, 1991). "National Historic Landmark Nomination: Louisiana Purchase Survey Marker / Louisiana Purchase Initial Point Site" (pdf). National Park Service.

External links

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