Bank of Lake Village history

One of the more successful was known as Lakeport Plantation, established by Joel Johnson in 1831 on the Mississippi River a few miles south of Lake Village.

River boatmen, gamblers, thieves and even murderers were among the nearly 500 people who made up the population in the early 1840’s.

In 1847, all that remained of Chicot County’s first seat of government, crumbled and fell into the powerful rushing waters of the Mississippi.

In 1855, a small stream of water off of Lake Chicot was given its name, “Whiskey Chute”, when a steamboat laden with whiskey was sunk.

Lake Village incorporated in 1857 but no city government was established because the county government operated from within the city limits and the town was formed around that county government.

In 1860, Jim Kelley, a slave, formed the first black church in Arkansas.

Until the summer of 1864, Civil War action in Lake Village wasn’t much more than the occasional Confederate attack on Union steamboats passing by on the Mississippi River or Union boats shelling the community in retaliation.

In 1885, the county courthouse fell into the Mississippi River.

By 1890 there were two large general stores, several lawyers, dentist, doctors, two hotels, a drug store, two livery stables, a newspaper office, a hardware store and at least seven saloons.

H.S. Wynne entered into office in July of 1901.

Charles Lindbergh, a young and yet-to-be-famous airmail pilot, made an unscheduled stop in Lake Village in April 1923 because of engine problems.

A little more than six decades later, Lake Village faced an altogether different foe: Mother Nature, in the form of the Flood of 1927.

The Bank of Lake Village opened its doors for business in 1937 built on the foundation of Chicot Bank and Trust.

In 1948, the Game and Fish Commission built a dam across the upper end of Lake Chicot hoping to isolate part of the lake from the run-off.

Established in 1957, the park includes more than 120 campsites, 14 cabins, picnic tables and pavilions, swimming pool, playground, a new handicapped-accessible trail and a combination store/marina where various watercraft can be rented.

After many years of down hill travel, 1985 was the turning point for the once beautiful water of Lake Chicot.

Designated Arkansas’ second national scenic byway in 2002, this 292-mile route extends from Blytheville to Eudora and is an underappreciated delight.

Located at 601 Highway 142, it reopened to the public in 2007 following a painstaking $6 million restoration by Arkansas State University’s (ASU) Delta Heritage Initiative.

Faces of Arkansas 2018

Faces of Arkansas 2019