Located just across the Randolph County line is the remains of Jackson Arkansas also known as Old Jackson. History has not been kind to what was once the County Seat in Lawrence County.
What began as a trading post in the early 1800’s became the Lawrence County Seat in 1829. Old Jackson once housed several log homes, a blacksmith shop, hotel, jail, church, schoolhouse, cemetery, post office, taverns and a large general store.
Old Jackson was the site of the murder of Mrs. Polly Hillhouse who was shot and killed by a slave named Jarrett who fled into the woods. Jarrett was tracked to Missouri, captured and brought back to stand trial at Jackson. Found guilty he was hanged from the town’s hanging tree on December 23rd, 1831.
But Old Jackson played an even bigger part in history before it disappeared. President Andrew Jackson authorized the removal of thousands of Native Americans from the Southeast to Indian Territory called the Federal Indian Removal Act of 1830, thus creating the “Trail of Tears”.
Winter of 1838 caught a group of 1200 Native Americans led by John Benge at the site of Jackson Arkansas. The military made arrangements for the group to camp outside of Jackson on a creek that ran east and south of town. The winter was bitterly cold and several of the group died at Jackson and were buried along the creeks edge in unmarked graves.
All that remains of Old Jackson is the cemetery and old stories, but for the most part this town has disappeared off the map.