I'm in Princeton, the first county seat of Dallas County, but there's not much to see. In the 2020 census, there were 13 residents.
After visiting nearby Tulip (the subject of Sunday's column), I drove a bit farther down Arkansas 9 to what once was a thriving community. I've long been fascinated by once-important places that are now almost ghost towns. Dallas County saw its population fall from 14,671 in the 1930 census to 6,482 in 2020. More than half the county's residents live in Fordyce. The vast majority of the county is pine forest.
"Founded in 1845, Dallas County was formed from Clark and Bradley counties," writes historian David Sesser. "The site for Princeton was selected later that year, and work began on a courthouse. An early name for the community was Dallastown. Winthrop Colbath received a federal land patent for the area that would become Princeton on July 10, 1848. His 80-acre plot was divided into smaller lots and sold.
"Several public structures were built in addition to the courthouse, including a jail in 1848 and a public well in 1851. The town included a public square and a post office that opened in 1845. By 1850, Princeton had four doctors and a dentist. There were tailors, wagon makers and pottery kilns. Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches served the community."
Remains of once-famous pottery kilns can still be found in the area. The Culbertson Kiln and Bird Kiln near Princeton are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Princeton Cemetery has graves dating to 1849, including marked graves of Confederate soldiers who died during what was known as the Red River Campaign late in the war.
"Pottery production was a particularly important industry in Dallas County starting in the 1840s," Michael Hodge writes for the Central Arkansas Library System's Encyclopedia of Arkansas. "Clay beds provided suitable clay for pottery. The earliest example of an organized commercial production of potters' clay was a business established by Joseph and Nathaniel Bird in 1843. The Bird family was the most prominent in the industry.
"In the last years of the 19th century, John Welch, a former Bird apprentice, was the owner and operator of a pottery production facility. An apprentice of Welch, Lafayette Glass, established a pottery-manufacturing concern. He later moved to Benton."
The 1860 Dallas County census listed 4,788 white residents and 3,495 Black slaves. There was one free person of color listed. Cotton production dominated the economy.
"Hundreds of men joined the Confederate Army," Sesser writes. "The war didn't directly impact the Princeton area until the capture of Little Rock by Union troops in September 1863. Confederate forces evacuated to the south, and some units passed through Princeton. A skirmish was fought near the community on Dec. 8, 1863.
"During the Camden Expedition, Union and Confederate forces came through Princeton. Union Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele led his forces from Camden through Princeton in an effort to return to Little Rock before Confederate forces could arrive. A small skirmish was fought near the town on April 28, 1864, as Confederate cavalry tried to locate the Federals. While pursuing Steele's retreating forces, John Walker's Texas Division marched through town and received a warm welcome from women and children who lined the route."
A battle at Jenkins' Ferry in what's now Grant County took place 14 miles north of Princeton. Hundreds of casualties were brought to Princeton, and buildings were transformed into hospitals.
Fordyce in southeast Dallas County was incorporated as a city in April 1884. It had become a railroad center and surpassed Princeton and Tulip in importance.
Hodge writes: "In an attempt to reverse Princeton's decline, the Fordyce & Princeton Railroad was incorporated in February 1890 and began construction on a logging line from Princeton to Fordyce. The timber industry continued to grow and was second only to agriculture as a source of income by 1900. ... By 1908, Fordyce was the county's trade center and the center for railway connections in south-central Arkansas.
"This shift also brought political clout, and the county seat was moved from Princeton to Fordyce. As a result, construction of the Fordyce & Princeton Railroad turned toward Carthage, thus sealing the demise of Princeton as an economic and political influence. In 1911, a courthouse was built in Fordyce."
Cotton was no longer king. What had been cotton plantations in the Princeton area were transformed into pine plantations.
"During the 1920s, farms were sold to lumber companies," Hodge writes. "Farming is now mostly confined to the southwest area of the county. Railroads began to lose their significance in the 1920s as the versatility of gas-powered vehicles changed the way logging was done. That eliminated the need to build tracks and maintain railroad infrastructure for logging.
"Gas-powered trucks were more dependable. Their usage increased, not just in removing timber but in all areas of transport. In 1940, the last trainload of logs pulled into Fordyce. It was the end of an era. ... A slowdown in the home-building industry early in the 21st century caused the price of timber to fall dramatically, prompting job losses."
The biggest boost for the Princeton area these days is deer season.
"Former homesteads and farms now host well-established hunting clubs whose members purchase supplies in nearby communities and have their kills processed locally," Hodge writes.
Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com