| 1900 |
- An article printed
in the December 2 issue
of the Arkansas
Gazette details
the condition of the town site area in Arkansas Post.
|
| 1903-1912 |
- The
course of the Arkansas River changes, cutting off the
bend along which the Post was located.
|
| 1923 |
- Mrs. G.G. Lewis, president of the
Arkansas Authors' and Composers' Society first suggests
that some sort of memorial
be placed at Arkansas Post.
|
| 1926 |
- The November
11 issue
of the Arkansas Gazette carries an article
by columnist Fletcher Chenault which details the
significance of the site. Chenault calls Arkansas
Post "the shrine that Arkansas forgot."
|
| 1927 |
- Major
flooding along the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers.
|
| 1929 |
- State representative
Ballard Deane sponsors a bill to establish a State
Park at Arkansas Post. A State Park Commission
consisting of twelve members were placed in charge of
the park.
- February
27 Arkansas
Post State
Park signed into law by Governor Harvey Parnell.
|
| 1930 |
- June 17 F. J
Quant donates 20 acres of land for the new state park.
An "old-fashioned picnic" was held to celebrate the
occasion.
|
| 1931 |
- February 20 The
state legislature appropriates $5,000 to beautify and
develop the Arkansas Post State Park.
- March - November Landscape
Architect P.C. Howson supervised the development of
the new park. This initial work included: a fence to
enclose the park; construction of a care-taker's lodge;
restoration and stabilization of the well and cistern
in the town site; construction of a picnic area; the
ravine was dammed, creating a seven-acre pond; landscaping;
and the statue of justice was placed on a pedestal by
the lake. This work ends in November when the $5,000
had run out.
- Two additional tracts of land were
acquired; bringing the size of the park to 40 acres.
|
| 1932 - 1934 |
- Little development occurs at the park,
due to a lack of funds.
|
| 1934 |
- The WPA conducts a project at the
park, assisting in cleaning, landscaping, and beautifying
the
park.
|
| 1935 |
- January 23 Control
over the Arkansas Post State park passed from the Arkansas
Post State Park
Commission
to the Arkansas State Park Commission.
- March 30 The National
Park Service issues a summary of the historical significance
of Arkansas Post.
|
| 1939 |
- June The National
Park Service conducts a review of the Arkansas Post State
Park for possible
inclusion in the National Park system.
|
| 1940 |
- The park had grown to 62 acres in
size.
- By this time four overnight cabins
had been built along the park lake.
- March 28 The National
Advisory Board of the National Park Service recommends
that Arkansas Post be classified as an eligible site
for inclusion in the National Park system.
|
| 1940s |
- World War II disrupts park planning.
|
| 1950 |
- Archeological field work occurs at
the Menard mounds site.
|
| 1956 |
- Congress appropriates $32,000 for
archeological investigations in the Arkansas
Post area. This money funds historical research and archeological
field work for 1957.
- Archeological field work begins at
the Menard mounds site, as well as at the Arkansas Post
State Park.
|
| 1957 |
- Congress appropriates an additional
$15,000 to continue research work towards locating the
different sites of Arkansas Post in 1958.
- A series of historical reports and resource material
on Arkansas Post is completed by NPS historian Ray Mattison.
- Archeological field work continues
at the Menard mounds site and on the grounds of the Arkansas
Post State Park.
|
| 1959 |
- March 26 Congressman W.F. Norrell introduces a bill
to establish Arkansas Post as a unit of the National
Park system.
|
| 1960 |
- July 6 Public Law 86-595, establishing
Arkansas Post National Memorial, is signed by President
Eisenhower.
|
| 1964 |
- June 23 In a formal
ceremony, Governor Orval Faubus presented the deed to
the area to the National Park Service.
- September 28 The
National Park Service assumes operations at Arkansas
Post.
|
| 1965 |
- September Construction
began on rerouting State Highway 169 to the north end
of the park, including a new bridge over Post Bayou.
The new road opened to the public on June 30, 1965.
|
| 1966 |
- NPS archeologist Rex Wilson supervises
extensive field work in the town site area.
- Congressman Wilbur Mills sponsored a bill to raise
the development ceiling of the park. The bill was signed
into law on August 11.
|
| 1967 |
- August A new Visitor Center opened
near the entrance to the park. Originally intended as
a maintenance office, it would serve as the visitor center
until 1981.
- October The
log house built in 1931 as a Caretaker's cabin is moved
from the park to the
nearby county museum.
|
| 1969 |
- March 2 The
sesquicentennial of the Arkansas Territory was commemorated
in a special program at the park; over
4,000 visitors took part in the event.
|
| 1970 |
- NPS archeologist Rex Wilson excavates
the site of the State Bank building. This remains the
best documented historic structure in the town site area.
|
| 1971 |
- The University of Arkansas holds its field school at
Arkansas Post, with the intention of locating the remains
of Montgomery's Tavern.
- A report on the excavation of the State Bank Building
is published.
- NPS Historian Ed Bearrs completes two reports on Arkansas
Post: A historic structure report on the Montgomery's
Tavern site, and a structural history of Arkansas Post,
including base maps of the town site and the Civil War
battlefield.
|
| 1974 |
- February 28 The
Arkansas Society, DAR donates $15,000 to the National
Park Service to commemorate the Colbert
Raid, Arkansas' only Revolutionary War battle, which
occurred at the Post in 1783.
- NPS Historian Ed Bearrs completes a Special History
Report on the Colbert Raid.
|
| 1976 |
- During the spring, the DAR exhibit
commemorating the Colbert Raid is completed.
- Bicentennial programs bring upwards
of 10,000 people to Arkansas Post for the
fourth of July.
|
| 1979 |
- August Work begins on the new Visitor Center building.
|
| 1981 |
- January 13 The Visitor Center building is completed.
- June Trail system marking roads in the old town site
area is completed.
- July Wayside exhibits in the town
site and at the rifle pits were installed.
- August Visitor center exhibits and
orientation film installed.
- October 3 Official
opening of the new visitor center.
|
| 1997 |
- Legislation authorizing the Osotouy
unit passed by Congress
|
| 2000 |
- Osotouy
unit established.
|
| 2003 |
- A year long commemoration of the Louisiana
Purchase bicentennial brings visitors to the park.
- April The park orientation film, "Arkansas
Post Revisited," is retired after 22 years, and replaced
by the film "Arkansas Post: Echoes of the Past."
|
