Dardanelle was founded on the southern bank of the Arkansas River in the center of the Arkansas River Valley. Joseph H. Brearley laid off Dardanelle in October 1847, and it was incorporated January 17, 1855. In 1823, his son, Col. David Brearley, was sent there as an Indian Agent to take a census of the Indians living in the settlement. Dardanelle was placed on the National Register February 12, 2009.