The Ghost Town of Rush

                Located in Marion County is the only remaining ghost town between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains—Rush, Arkansas. 

                The town of Rush was started by miners and prospectors who came to the area in the early 1880s in search of silver mines that had long been told about by the native Americans. Prospectors did find shiny metallic flakes in rock formations which were thought to be concentrated silver. As word spread about this discovery, people from across the mid-south rushed (henceforth the town’s name) to the area in hopes of finding the valuable mineral.

                In 1886, a rock smelter was constructed on the bank of Rush Creek to extract the shiny metallic substance. Unfortunately for the hopeful prospectors and miners, during an initial run of the smelter in January 1887, zinc oxide fumes were emitted with the predicted silver failing to collect in the sand molds. As a result, zinc—rather than silver-- mining began at the Morning Star Mine. 

                The hopes of finding silver and striking it rich weren’t the only reasons people flocked to Rush. Many prospectors who came to Rush had engaged in various types of criminal activity and hoped to get as far from law enforcement as possible. Businessmen and merchants came to the settlement looking for an opportunity to provide for the needs of the growing town. Others who came to Rush were general laborers, farmers, mechanics and former Confederate soldiers from states such as Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. No matter their trade or profession, all those who flocked to Rush were looking for ways to make a quick buck or two. With the seemingly never-ending flow of new residents moving to Rush, the once-small mining camp ballooned to a population of nearly 5,000. 

                Rush was officially incorporated as a city in 1916, and became the most prosperous city per capita in the state. In the town’s early days, it was not unusual to find five to six tents erected in the morning with more tents having been added by afternoon’s end. The settlers who didn’t have the luxury of a tent opted to make shelters from rocks and even packing boxes to protect themselves from Mother Nature.

                At the 1892 World Fair in Chicago, a large zinc nugget from the Morning Star Mine weighed in at 13,000 pounds and received blue ribbons. Another large zinc specimen from the mine won a blue ribbon at the St. Louis World Fair held in 1904.

                As World War I came to a close, both the demand and price for zinc declined. As such, the population of Rush began to do dwindle as well. The mines one by one closed, as did the local post office and several stores. By the mid-1950s, the residents who had remained slowly left the town as well. Rush was officially deemed a ghost town in 1972, when it became part of the property acquired by the federal government for the creation of the Buffalo National River system. Rush’s historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in February 1987. 

                The historic district includes ruins that date from 1880 through 1940. The remnants of stone buildings, log cabins and other structures located in the Rush Historic District are the last preserved remains of zinc mining activity in the Natural State and have been remained relatively untouched throughout the years.

                If you’re in the Buffalo National River area for a canoe trip or hike, it’s definitely worth a trip to experience the ghost town of Rush and see for yourself the historic structures and get an idea of life in the former boom town that once made a substantial economic impact in our great state.