Scott County ArArchives History - Books .....Growth And Development, 1880, Chapter 8 1922 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/arfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 August 29, 2009, 11:36 pm Book Title: History Of Scott County CHAPTER VIII. Growth and Development, 1880 After the turmoil of the factional strife had ended, the people once more turned their faces toward the future in a steady internal development. No great outstanding event occurred during this period but there was symmetrical progress—progress in all lines of activity that made for the betterment of living conditions of the poeple. I. Post Offices and Postal Routes In 1870, there were six post offices within the present boundaries of the county, located at the following places: Black Jack Parks Boles Waldron Nebraska Olio Since that time other offices have been established until at this time there are over twenty-five in the county. These are all fourth class offices except Waldron, which is a third class office. The following table will show how the mail was delivered to these post offices: From To Length Frequency Contractor Salary Ft. Smith Waldron 36 mi. Weekly J. C. Gibson $227.00 Ft. Smith Black Jack 36 mi. Weekly J. Stephens 220.40 Danville Waldron 55 mi. Weekly J. C. Gibson 224.00 Danville Parks 65 mi. Weekly J. F. Perry 275.00 Waldron Slosson's 200 mi. Weekly John Gable 148.00 Mt. Ida Waldron 52 mi. Weekly G. Whittington 249.00 The first rural free delivery service in the county was established out of Abbott post office on April 1, 1908. Walter Jones was the first carrier. The second route was established out of Waldron a few years later, with W. R. Cox as the carrier. This service has been extended until a large number of the post offices are now supplied in this manner. 2. Roads and Bridges Closely allied with the establishment of the post roads of the county was the construction and maintenance of a system of public highways. The county has not been fortunate in this matter. The roads were first cut out of the forests by the settlers without reference to scientific principles of road building. A road was made whenever and wherever the settler wished to go. They usually followed an old Indian or buffalo trail, and were not thought of as being the foundation of a future highway system. But with the great increase in population, it became necessary to recognize certain lines of travel as county roads, to be maintained at public expense. The maintenance of the roads took the form of the employment of free labor. A road overseer was appointed in each township to supervise the road work in his territory. Every male between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five years was required to work a certain number of days per year. By this method the roads were maintained. Recently a road tax has been levied for the definite purpose of affording funds with which to hire labor and purchase materials for use on the public roads. The first bridges in the county were private enterprises, chartered by the State and constructed by private capital. Toll was charged all who used the bridge. One of the earliest and most, used of these was Trotter's bridge on the Ft. Smith and Waldron road near Boothe. It was built about forty years ago by W. L. Trotter, who kept it in operation until a few years ago. The first constructive road-building campaign was inaugurated by Judge A. F. Smith in 1914. Steel bridges were erected over the Petit Jean, Poteau and Fourche rivers. So much enthusiasm was aroused by these improvements that the county embarked upon a larger and more comprehensive bridge-building program. During Judge Payne's terms of office, 1916-1920, road bonds were floated to the extent of $100,000.00, the proceeds of which were to be used for improving the highways and for building bridges. These improvements were never made. But the funds are gone, and the county was plunged in debt for nearly the entire amount of the bonds. Judge Payne resigned his office and removed from the county. He has since been indicted by the grand jury. 3. Schools and Churches The number of the public schools has kept pace with the growth in population. In 1860 there were only ten. Now there are nearly one hundred. The crude log school house has been supplanted by the modern frame building, with good equipment and apparatus. In a large number of the districts more than one teacher is employed. Some of the earlier teachers of this period were: Philip B. Young Brawley Township James D. Bradburn Mountain Township Stephen Graves Lewis Township Prominent teachers later in this period were: C. E. Henderson, H. J. Hall, J. Y. Payton, J. W. McNutt, W. W. Lundy, J. D. Little, G. C. Ellis, Wesley Gardenhire, B. A. Thompson, Mrs. A. F. Smith, Mrs. C. Henderson, J. L. Hough, N. O. Taff, Mattie Stone, Mrs. Etta Pledger, J. W. Black, Utie Alexander and E. Holland. Churches have been established in every community. The Methodists, Baptists, Christians and Presbyterians are the leading denominations. No Catholic or Jewish church has ever been erected within the limits of the county. 4. Newspapers The first newspaper to be published in the county was called the Reformer. Publication of this journal at Waldron was begun in 1874 by W. R. Allison. It appeared for about a year, when the printing outfit was removed to Booneville. In 1887 P. C. Stone started the Citizen. It was Republican in politics. In 1890 the plant was sold to M. Keener, and A. G. Leming became editor. It continued for about a year under the new management, when it was purchased by the Reporter. Another newspaper called the Vindicator ran for a short time in 1897. A paper known as the Wasp was started by H. N. Smith about 1905. It was a fiery controversial periodical, and under the inspiration of its able editor it, became one of the leading county papers of western Arkansas. It was also purchased by the Reporter in 1908. The Sentinel was also founded by Judge Smith at Waldron in 1910. It was a paper much like the Wasp had been, its editorial opinion being largely a reflection of the political views and predilections of its editor. It. was sold to W. E. Baker in 1912, who merged it with the Advance-Reporter. The Scott County Record, one of the papers now in existence at Waldron, was started in 1915 by W. E. Baker. He sold it in 1920 to A. F. Smith, who became its editor. The oldest paper in the county is the Advance-Reporter. It was started at Waldron in 1878 by S. H. Farley, and has been issued continuously since that date. Its editors have been S. H. Farley, M. M. Beavers, J. M. Harvey, Hubert J. Hall, W. E. Baker and J. B. Cox. It is now published by J. B. Cox and son. 5. Towns and Villages Waldron was incorporated in 1875. After it was burned during the factional strife, new and better buildings were erected. Brick business houses took the places of the frame structures that were burned. The first hotel in the town and county was the old Featherston Inn near the railroad station. About 1875 the Malones erected a more modern hotel which is still in business. It played an important part in the Scott County war. Adjutant General Pomeroy in 1878-1879, made it his headquarters while in charge of the militia. It was thus referred to as "Pomeroy's Citadel." When the town was burned during the Civil War, the court house and all the county records were lost. No effort was made to rebuild it until in 1904. During the administration of Judge H. N. Smith a modern building was erected with fireproof vaults for housing the official records. Mansfield on the northern boundary line is an important shipping point. When the Frisco railroad was built in 1885, only a post office and a general store were located in this vicinity. The post office was known as Chocoville, and Marion Watts had been postmaster and merchant. Soon the town of Mansfield grew up and is now a well-constructed, incorporated town. Its growth was further increased by the building of the Rock Island railroad through this part of the county in 1899. The Arkansas Western railroad was constructed to Waldron in 1902. Villages are numerous throughout the county. Some have high schools and others have very good graded schools. 6. Definition of County Boundaries Scott County was formed on November 5, 1833, by act of the territorial legislature. The boundaries were first defined on October 24, 1835. On December 16, 1838, the boundary between Scott and Crawford was defined. The townships of Boon, Washburn and Reveille were added to Logan County March 21, 1873. By act of the legislature in 1903, a further annexation was made to Logan County. Additional Comments: HISTORY of Scott County Arkansas By Henry Grady McCutchen Printed in Arkansas U. S. A. Copyright, 1922, by H. G. McCutchen File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/scott/history/1922/historyo/growthan18nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/arfiles/ File size: 9.5 Kb