River Highway Davidsonville stood on a wedge-shaped tract at the confluence of the Black, Spring, and Eleven Point rivers, placing it amid major transportation and trade routes. Boats moved along the Black River to the Mississippi River and onward to world markets, carrying goods on flatboats, keelboats, and open cargo rowboats. As a river port, the town offered landing areas for freight and passengers, along with warehouses, boat storage, and repair facilities near the water. By land, travelers used the network of primitive roads known as the Southwest Trail, which began in St. Louis, crossed diagonally through the state to Little Rock, and continued to Washington and the Red River in the southwest. A spur connected this route to Davidsonville, where travelers found blacksmiths, stables, inns, taverns, and a postal stop. People traveled on horseback or in wagons drawn by horses, mules, and oxen, and ferries such as Hix's Ferry at the Arkansas-Missouri border helped road travelers cross the rivers.