City Of Batesville history

Named for James W. Bates, a judge and delegate to the United States Congress from the Territory of Arkansas, Batesville was founded (1812) by John Reed, who built a trading post at the mouth of Poke (now Polk) Bayou, where a fork of the Southwest Trail crossed the river.

He came to Batesville in 1819 and was one of the most prominent citizens of the community for fifteen years.

The first post office was established here in 1822 with Nathan Cooke as postmaster.

The first steamboat to visit Batesville was in 1831 when Captain Pennywit came to the City on January 3, with the Steamer “Waverly.”

Lyon was one of the trustees of the Batesville Academy, the first academy incorporated in the state, the bill for which was approved by Governor Conway on September 26, 1836.

During the early part of 1861, The Weekly Panola Star reported that people were only lukewarm on the subject of war but were unanimously in favor of the Confederacy and seccession.

Old Panola, as it is now called, was located about one mile northwest of the present site of Batesvilles and was a bitter rival of Belmont for the location of the county seat in 1864.

Jim Bates, a conductor on the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad and a prominent Methodist minister in the county. (Old newspaper articles mention "Brother Jim Bates" preaching 'eloquently' at a hanging.) The town of Batesville received its charter in 1866.

Bull Shoals Dam (1947), on the White River just north of Cotter, Ark., impounds Bull Shoals Lake, which extends 37 miles (60 km) upstream.

The Arkansas Scottish Festival (formerly the Ozark Scottish Festival) has been held annually each spring since 1980.

The principal trade of Batesville during its early existence was that of supplying the settlers with groceries and provisions, for which hides and furs from the numerous wild animals of that time were taken in exchange (Batesville, 2019).