COUNTY HISTORY

Lee County Arkansas Genealogy Trails

EARLY HISTORY

POST OFFICES--PAST AND PRESENT



EARLY HISTORY

Lee is one of the eastern border counties. It is bounded on the north by St. Francis County; on the east by Crittenden County and the Mississippi River, which separates it from the State of Mississippi; on the south by Phillips County, and on thc west by Monroe County. Its area is 601 square miles and, with the exception of Crowley's Ridge, which runs north and south through the central part, is of alluvial formation. It is drained by the L'Anguille, Mississippi and St. Francis rivers. The soil, especially east of the ridge, is exceedingly fertile.

The county was created by the act of April 17, 1873, from parts of Crittenden, Monroe, Phillips and St. Francis counties. It was named for Gen. Robert E. Lee and is now divided into the following townships: Bear Creek, Big Creek, Council, Fleenor, Hampton, Hardy, Independence, Liberty, Oak Forest, Richland, St. Francis, Spring Creek, Texas, Union and Walnut.

The act creating the county designated Marianna as the temporary seat of justice and it was afterward made the permanent county seat. The first county officers were: M. II. Wing, clerk; W. H. Furbush, sheriff; B. B. Nunnally, treasurer; S. M. Wiley, surveyor; George H. W. Stuart, assessor; J. Roberts, coroner. No county judge was elected until 1874, when E. H. Black was chosen and held the office for eight years.

The first settlements in what is now Lee County were made long before the county was created and are referred to in the history of the older counties from which Lee was taken. The county is one of the rapidly growing and most progressive in the state. In 1910 the census showed a population of 24,252, and in 1920 it was 27,773. In 1919 the people voted in favor of the construction of more than one hundred miles of modern highways.

Two lines of the Missouri Pacific railway system form a junction at Marianna, and the Missouri & North Arkansas crosses the southwestern part of the county. Marianna is the only city. Moro, the only incorporated town, is located on the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad in the western part and has a population of 265. It has a bank, several sawmills and woodworking concerns and is connected by telephone with the surrounding towns. Allen, Haynes, La Grange, Park Place, Rondo and Wrightland are the principal villages.

POST OFFICES--PAST AND PRESENT

Arnold (1901-1901)
Ashley's Point (1871-1874)
Askew (1856/1926)
Aubrey (1909-Date)
Bailey (1881-1883)
Beck (1924-1933)
Beech Grove (1849-1866)
Bledsoe (1869/1909)
Bledsoe's Landing (1849/1866)
Brickeys (1914-Date)
Bryes (1916-1920)
Canaan (1880-1885)
Clifton (1873-1925)
Council (1838/1922)
Council Bend (1) (1846/1866)
Council Bend (2) (1866/1883)
Edwardsburg (1854-1867)
Felton (1925-1931)
Fitzpatrick (1890-1895)
Fortune (1879/1883)
Gill (1897-1916)
Hale (1914-1915)
Haleside (1879/1884)
Happy (1897-1916)
Haynes (1883-Date)
Hoodland (1920-1928)
James (1881-1884)
Key (1877-1885)
La Grange (1852-Date)
Lee (1876/1914)
Marianna (1852-Date)
Moro (1855-Date)
Oak Forest (1877/1906)
Park Place (1875/1916)
Parkplace (1895-1905)
Pedee (1903-1906)
Peters (1884/1926)
Pharr (1897-1898)
Philips (1894/1909)
Philips Bayou (1868/1894)
Progress (1902-1907)
Reese (1909-1912)
Ringville (1894-1896)
Rondo (1909-1959)
Rondo Rur. Sta. (1959-1968)
Rough And Ready (1850-1852)
Seelig (1890-1913)
Soudan (1914-1931)
Spring Creek (1871-1911)
Sylarsville (1867/1904)
Thomasville (1911-1922)
Tullyville (1848-1854)
Vernon (1898-1902)
Vineyard (1875-1914)
Walnut Bend (1838/1906)
Walnut Ridge (1848-1852)
Wayne (1852-1859)
Wolf (1898-1899)

Source: Used with permission from Jim Forte at http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp