Forrest’s Camp

In 1866 General Nathan Bedford Forrest, along with about 1,000 workmen, pitched camp in the vicinity of what is now Front Street on land belonging to the Izard and Prewett families. By 1868 they had succeeded in making a cut through Crowley’s Ridge and laying track for the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad. The county surveyor, John C. Hill, drew the plat for a town on March 1, 1869, and on May 11, 1870, the community was officially incorporated as Forrest City. Within a year trains were running regularly, and Front Street was a thriving business district. By 1892 most of the buildings were brick, and many of those early brick structures are still a part of this historic site.

Forrest City, Arkansas · United States