Why Randolph County, Arkansas is a Wonderful Place to Visit

I am a long time Randolph County, Arkansas resident. My father's family lived about ten miles from where I live now back during the 1820 census when Randolph County remained a part of Lawrence County. Some of the direct descendents continue to live on the same land. While I may be partial to my home county, I recognize we have a lot of interesting activities to participate in and a lot of interesting places to visit even for those not from around here.

When I was a little girl, I hated living in Pocahontas-the county seat of Randolph County. For teenagers who live in a town of 6,000 people, there is not a lot of interesting activities. Often people laughed when I told them I was from a town named Pocahontas because it shares the name with an important Indian princess. This similar name now makes my town seem quaint and is only a part of my town's interesting history.

Previously, I have written about a couple of the interesting places to visit in Pocahontas. The Eddie Mae Herron Center is amazing and Old Davidsonville State Park is my favorite place to visit as a county native.

Black River Overlook Park was created after I became an adult. The park lies near the Black River and a walkway has been created that goes close to the river. It is very peaceful to watch the river's waves and see fish leaping in the water. A lot of people use Black River as a means for fishing just as they do Old Davidsonville State Park. Along the walkway on this trail, are markers describing what life was like along the Black River near the time of the Civil War. There is a statue of the Indian Pocahontas located at the park near the Century Wall.

Because of having a difficult time traveling outside the house lately, I do not have pictures taken of the wall linked to this article. I found a site that provides pictures and will link it as a reference at the end of the article.

Courtesy of a booklet picked up at our Heritage bookstore, the Century Wall was created in 2000 by Randolph County's community college Black River Technical College. The purpose of the wall is to recognize 100 Americans who significantly shaped the 20^th century. There are three walls with one representing those important from 1900-1940, the middle representing those from 1941-1965, and the third representing those from 1966-2000. Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Ronald Reagan are all included on the wall. One of my heroes, Danny Thomas is on the wall as are Geronimo, George Washington Carver, Charles Lindbergh, Helen Keller, Mark Twain, Lucille Ball. Elvis Presley, William Fulbright (an important former senator of Arkansas), Rosa Parks, William Faulkner, Robert F. Kennedy, Michael Jordan, Neil Armstrong, Bob Hope, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou and many more have their images on the wall.

I mentioned the Randolph County Heritage Museum earlier. If you would like to stop to visit Randolph County, this should be the first place. The museum has a display that shows the many neat places and activities you can do in Randolph County. Our museum was opened during the county's 150^th anniversary of formation in 2005 (October 29, 1835).

My favorite exhibit in Randolph County, AR is not an exhibit but a building that is in the middle of Pocahontas. We refer to it as the "town square" and sitting in the middle of the town square is a building that was our courthouse for many years. For years, I have been fascinated with this building. I love to do family history research in my spare time and a part of that research has entailed reading newspapers from many years ago. My favorite were the ones from the 1872 period where donations to have the courthouse built were requested in the newspaper. It took until 1875 for the courthouse to be finished and used. In 1940, the courthouse we currently use was built. I am unsure of what the old courthouse was used for until the 1980's when our county library was located there. A few days before my surgery of a week ago, I decided to enter the old courthouse for the first time since it was filled with books when I was a child. The building is now used for the Randolph County Chamber of Commerce. These people are very friendly and make visitors feel welcome.

The former courthouse is not set up as a museum but several pictures are on various walls as reminders of what the courthouse was once used for and of activities around Randolph County, Arkansas (especially those from the turn of the century). There is a picture of some of the first Randolph County, AR settlers taken many years after the fact. I wish I had been able to take a good picture to know who was in this photograph as many of my dad's ancestors could have qualified to be in the photo, as could my husband's ancestors. My favorite photo was of the former courthouse at the turn of the 20^th century.

Other places you may find interesting in Randolph County, Arkansas include the new courthouse that has veteran monuments, political gatherings, and many other fun activities to participate in. The Randolph County, Arkansas library has the best genealogy room I have encountered out of several. Former Arkansas Governor Thomas S. Drew is buried in Pocahontas' Masonic Cemetery. There is a meteorite that was found in the Black River bottoms in 1859 and is now located at the new Randolph County, courthouse.

Wildlife is important in Randolph County. Several places exist where a person can stay to enjoy the wildlife including James Ranch Lodge, Current River Beach Resort, Woody's Canoe and Campground, and possibly others. I am very weak in my knowledge about this facet of our community.

Pocahontas has twenty three-restaurants including McDonald's and more formal dining such as that at Queen House Buffet. It is fun to decide where to dine out when you live here and if you are a visitor you will not leave hungry.

Places of Interest in Randolph County

http://www.randolphchamber.com/view/125

Century Wall and other neat stuff about the Civil War walkway as well as other items of interest in the county

http://www.arkansasties.com/Randolph/Structures/RiverSquare/RiverSquare.htm

Randolph County, AR area history (I'm a native and did not realize everything listed here)

http://randolphcomuseum.org/history.htm