This region of Arkansas is known as the "Delta" or the
"Mississippi Delta". There are many interesting State Parks and Museums in
this area. You'll find:
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Lake Chicot,
Arkansas's largest natural lake which was cut off
centuries ago when the Mississippi River changed course. Fishing
for crappie, bass and bream is popular, especially on the upper end of
the lake during the spring and fall. Year-round fishing for catfish is
great. The lake is on the Mississippi Fly Way offering some of the
best year-round birding opportunities in Arkansas.
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The Arkansas Post Museum, has five exhibit
buildings where artifacts and documents depict Arkansas's history from
colonial days to the modern era. The exhibit buildings are
authentic Delta structures. Located nearby is the The Arkansas Post
National Memorial. The first permanent European settlement on the
lower Mississippi River (1686) and Arkansas's first territorial capital
are commemorated by the National Memorial.
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Delta Heritage Trailrails-to-trails conversion is being developed in phases along the
73-mile former Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way that runs from one mile
south of Lexas (six miles west of Helena) to Cypress Bend (five miles
northeast of McGehee).
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The
Hampson Museum
exhibits artifacts from the Nodena site, a civilization of art,
religion, political structure and trading networks developed here from
A.D. 1350 to 1700.
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The
Herman Davis Museum, has
one-acre park surrounding the monument to Private Herman Davis, an
Arkansas farm boy and war hero.
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Today the
Jacksonport
Museum, an 1869
courthouse and the nearby Mary Woods No. 2 stern wheel paddleboat, and
interpretive programs share the story of this historic river port.
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The
Louisiana Purchase
is a National Historic Landmark located at the junction
of Lee, Monroe and Phillips counties, preserving the initial point from
which all surveys of property acquired through the Louisiana Purchase of
1803 initiated.
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Parkin Archeological Museum interprets
the Mississippi Period Native American village located here from A.D. 1000
to 1550 (and visited by the Hernando de Soto expedition in 1541).
Arkansas State Parks and the Arkansas Archeological Survey manage this
National Historic Landmark.
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The
Plantation Agriculture Museum
exhibits and interpretive programs interpret the history of cotton
agriculture from 1836 through World War II when agricultural practices
quickly became mechanized.
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The
Prairie County Museum which
boasts new state-of-the art exhibits showcasing the influence of the
lower White River on settlement and commerce in the region from 1831 to
1931.
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Toltec Mound
National Historic Landmark preserves and interprets Arkansas's tallest
Native American mounds. These mounds and an earthen embankment are
the remains of a large ceremonial and governmental complex inhabited from
A.D. 600 to 1050.
