Jacksonville (Pulaski County) holds a special place in my heart. It’s where I graduated from North Pulaski High School (“Home of the Falcons”), which was later merged into Jacksonville High School and demolished in 2024. I spent a couple of years living there after high school, and my parents still call it home. While Jacksonville is arguably best known for being the home of the Little Rock Air Force Base, the city has a rich history that goes far beyond this well-known military installation.
The first settlers known to have moved into the area that became Jacksonville were two Revolutionary War veterans, Jacob Gray, Sr. and his brother, Shared. Originally from Williamson County, Tennessee, the brothers established their home in a location northeast of where Daniels Ferry Road intersects with Bayou Meto Creek, roughly twelve miles northeast of Little Rock (Pulaski County). In the winter of 1820–21, some family members and their slaves arrived, followed by the rest of their family in the spring of 1821. The Grays quickly set up a thriving community, planting crops and cultivating cotton.
In 1824, Congress allocated funds for surveying a road from Memphis to Little Rock. This survey identified a route that passed by the Gray settlement, connecting to Daniels Ferry Road just north of Bayou Meto. Samson Gray, Jacob Gray Jr.'s son, and leader of the settlement, agreed to construct the road from the Bayou of the Two Prairies to Little Rock, including building bridges over both the Bayou of the Two Prairies and Bayou Meto Creek. By 1827, the small settlement had emerged as a popular stop for travelers.
When Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Memphis to Little Rock Road became a crucial travel route for the removal of several tribes. Many of these removal parties passed by the Gray settlement, where Samson Gray provided them with rations. Throughout the 1830s, other settlers like Reddrick Eason and Pleasant McCraw arrived in the area, establishing themselves along the road east of the Gray settlement.
During the July 1838 session of the Pulaski County court, Thomas Gray, brother of Samson Gray, submitted a request to construct a toll bridge over Bayou Meto Creek to replace the original bridge. Permission was granted to Gray, however, in October 1838, Gray sold the charter to John H. Reed, who completed the bridge in 1839. As a result, the bridge became known as Reed’s Bridge.
In August 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, Union forces began their advance along the Memphis to Little Rock Road, moving from Brownsville (Lonoke County) toward Little Rock. On August 27, during the Battle of Reed’s Bridge, Confederate soldiers were compelled to retreat towards Arkansas’ capital city. In their withdrawal, the rebels set fire to Reed’s Bridge to slow down the Union forces' pursuit.
After the war’s end, Nicholas Jackson settled in Gray Township and acquired land along a planned railroad route. In June 1870, he sold a prime piece of property to the Cairo and Fulton Railroad, with the stipulation a depot be built next to his land. This led Jackson to lay out the plans for a new town, which he named Jackson. A post office was established on August 7, 1871, with Jackson serving as its first postmaster. In the decades to come, more families settled in Jacksonville.
By 1941, Jacksonville’s population was around 400. At that time, it lacked essential services like natural gas, streetlights, and a proper water and sewer system. The community was connected by a telephone switchboard, and electricity was supplied to residents via a branch line from Arkansas Power & Light. Notably, Gov. Homer Adkins, who guided the state through the challenging years of World War II, was originally from Jacksonville.
In next week’s column, I’ll explore the modern history of Jacksonville, highlighting the establishment of the Little Rock Air Force Base and First Jacksonville Bank & Trust (now First Arkansas Bank & Trust). These two institutions have played a crucial role in shaping Jacksonville into the thriving community it is today.
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