History & Culture

The area known today as Calhoun County had been primarily occupied by Choctaw Indians up until the early 1800's. The first pioneers began settling here in 1841. A group of settlers from Chambers County, Alabama formed a small community later known as Chambersville. Two of the earliest pioneers, W. S. Thornton and Asa R. Cone arrived by following the old "Checo Trace", an old overland route from the Mississippi River across southern Arkansas, which involved them cutting a path to bring their wagons through to the make the first settlement. By 1846 this community in Moro Township had its first store and a post office, both owned and operated by Dr Bass.

Settlers began to first come to what is now Calhoun County due to access by water transportation on the Ouachita River and the rich sandy loam soil readily available for farming. Acres of available land that was easily cultivated drew immigrants from Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. The county was made up of primarily farming families with cotton being the main cash crop. Many owned land for the fist time and took advantage of the Homestead Act and ability to buy public land.

Nathaniel Hunt from Tennessee was the first settler in the area that later became the town of Hampton around 1848. In August of 1849, Nathaniel secured 80 acres by land patent of Choctaw Indian Lands. This was the first of a total of 535 acres Hunt acquired from 1849-1896 in Calhoun County. Here it should be noted that Hunt eventually donated the land for the new county's seat of government.

The areas aforementioned were actually part of Dallas County. Settlers had to travel to the county seats to conduct civil business, purchase land, obtain licenses and bonds as required by law. Dallas and Ouachita Counties at the time were both extensive in size leaving the residents in the East portion of their counties having to travel long distances to conduct these affairs. With this in mind, a Ouachita County Representative, Thomas Woodward, agreed to divide Ouachita County and have the General Assembly form a new county for the convenience of its citizens. Calhoun County, Arkansas was formed on December 6, 1850 by the Arkansas General Assembly who carved it from portions of Dallas, Ouachita and Bradley Counties to give the area citizens a more centrally located seat of government. The county was named for John C. Calhoun, an early Vice President of the United States serving under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. The county is approximately 36 miles in length and 24 miles in width encompassing about 610 square miles.

The young county immediately went to work establishing it's county seat nominating its first county officers in February 1851. By May, 1851 the first session of court met in the home of James Riggs near Hampton. When he declined to make his land available for the county seat, it was Nathaniel M. Hunt who gave the necessary acreage. By October of that same year a log courthouse and jail had been constructed. [Early County Officials]

The first marriage in the county as that of William C. Stephens and Mary Stringfellow performed on January 8, 1851 by John C. Avant, an early Justice of the Peace. On January 27, 1853 the town of Hampton was incorporated. The county seat had been named in honor of Col. John R. Hampton, at that time a State Senator of Arkansas, and a brother of the Hon. Wade Hampton. Early councilmen were Dr. R. B. Archer, Nathaniel M. Hunt, Capt. G. W. McCowan, O.H.P. Black, A. I. Manor and Dr. I. M. Farrior.

Hampton grew into a prosperous southern town. Merchants bought their stock at New Orleans and had it shipped up the Ouachita River to Little Bay Landing that was twelve miles south of Hampton. The numerous landings along the river enabled steamboats to unload the goods brought from New Orleans and received the cotton and other products for the return trip. Calhoun County became a busy center of activity. By 1860, another village, seven miles east of Hampton grew known as Summerville. [Early Businesses and Professionals of Calhoun County]

Then, as it did to all parts of the South, Civil War came. Calhoun County's Civil War heritage was the four hundred plus men in sent into battle. It should be noted that about 40 men from the county enlisted in the Union Army. Although no military engagements occurred in the county, the halt of cotton trade suspended all business in the county. The Confederate troops burned the cotton bales here on occasion. This resulted in one fire in 1864 that spread destroying a warehouse, 3 stores and one home. Many of the merchants closed down shops to enlist. By the end of the war there wasn't a single business left in Hampton. Of particular sad note, many of the men who left died in battles and from disease and exposure. This loss was the county's bitterest casualty from the war. It serves as only a footnote that the immigration the county enjoyed before the war ended as well. It would not be until the 1880's and the appearance of a railroad that it began to increase again with settlers mainly coming from Alabama.

After the war and during reconstruction, the county began to rebuild slowly. By 1871 the city of Hampton was reincorporated. Other towns sprung up in the county. Locust Bayou was established in 1870 with Jeremiah Hollis as postmaster.[Early Communities & Towns] In 1883 the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway laid tracks in southern Arkansas and in the northwest corner of the the county. It was later absorbed by the Cotton Belt Railway. The immense natural resource of forests of southern yellow pine timber could now be harvested and brought to markets. Tracks were laid through Caswell Township and a railroad and saw mill town grew up overnight. It was named Thornton in honor of Col. J. R. Thornton of Camden. The county's first newspaper was published in 1886 in Thornton by Ranes & Graham, the Thornton Tablet. By 1890 it was the largest town in the county and had five general stores, two large saw mills, physicians, drug stores, a butcher, and two hotels The two saw mills in Thornton, one in Little Bay and one at Eureka Station employed well over 300 men and it's payroll supported a prosperous county heading into the 20th century. The capacity in 1890 of the mills was near thirty-six million board feet annually. Although there was some talk of relocating the county seat to the booming town, plans were set aside due to it's inconvenient location from the majority of the citizens.

In the 1940's the military built the Naval Army Depot encompassing sections of both Calhoun and Ouachita Counties. Today it is one of the largest industrial parks in the southern part of Arkansas. Highland Industrial Park in Calhoun County comprises 17,000 acres, with 12,000 available for new
industry or expansions. Some of the park's tenants are ARQUEST, Atlantic Research Corp., BEI Defense Systems and Loral Vaught Systems. The county is home to the Arkansas Law Enforcement and Fire Training Academies and Southern Arkansas University Tech.