{{Short description|State park in Arkansas, United States}} {{See also|Jacksonport, Arkansas}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox park | name = Jacksonport State Park | image = Jacksonport State Park Jacksonport AR.jpg | image_caption = Historic Jacksonport courthouse | image_alt = Courthouse | image_size = 280 | location = Jackson County, Arkansas, United States | coordinates = {{coord|35.639401|-91.311468|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coords_ref = <ref name="guide"/> | area = {{convert|164.7|acre|abbr=on}}<ref name="enc"/> | elevation = {{convert|226|ft|m|abbr=on}} | established = 1965<ref name="enc" /> | administrator = Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism | free_label = | free_data = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_ref = | website = {{Official website}} | module = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = | nrhp_type = hd | image = | caption = | location = Between Dillard St. and the White River | coordinates = | locmapin = | map_caption = | built = | builder = | architecture = | added = January 21, 1970 | area = {{convert|4|acre|ha}} | mpsub = | refnum = 70000121<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|name=Jacksonport State Park|refnum=70000121|version=2025a|accessdate=April 26, 2026}}</ref> }} }} '''Jacksonport State Park''' is a {{convert|164.7|acre|adj=on}} Arkansas state park in Jackson County, Arkansas in the United States. The park contains the 1872 Jacksonport courthouse which served as the home of county government from 1872-1892. Furnished with regional items of historical significance, tours of the courthouse are available.<ref name="enc" /> Jacksonport served as an important steamboat stop and trading center at the confluence of the White River and Black River, until being bypassed by the Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad shortly after becoming county seat.<ref name="pib" >{{cite web |title=Jacksonport State Park Brochure |url=https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/sites/default/files/2025-10/b71cec4872408deae78fb331970fcc2f_jacksonportpib.pdf |year=2022 |author=Staff |publisher=Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism |access-date=2026-02-06}}</ref>
==History== The community of Jacksonport grew as a major commercial center in the mid-19th century. The town was militarily important during the American Civil War, and was where General M. Jeff Thompson formally surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Arkansas to Union forces in 1865. In the 1870s the town was bypassed by the railroad, and rapidly declined thereafter as river freight shipment declined. The county seat was moved to Newport in 1891.<ref name="nris" />
The formation of a park began when the Jackson County Historical Society purchased the derelict courthouse for restoration in 1961. The area became a state park on June 5, 1965, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on January 21, 1970.<ref name="enc" /><ref name="nris" /> The park also contains the Jackson Guards Memorial, added to the NRHP in 1996. In 1967, the ''Mary Woods No. 2'', a 1930s sternwheeler steamboat was donated to the park. It opened as a museum in May 1976.<ref name=arkpark>{{cite web |url=http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/news/display.aspx?id=1697 |title=Damage to the historic Mary Woods No. 2 sternwheeler at Jacksonport State Park deemed beyond repair |website=www.arkansasstateparks.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306164010/http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/news/display.aspx?id=1697 |archive-date=2013-03-06}}</ref>
left|thumb|Mary Woods II A pipe on the sternwheeler froze and rethawed, causing it to sink in January 1984, after which it was raised and restored. Then, on March 1, 1997, the state park, including the ''Mary Woods No. 2'', suffered severe damage from an F4 tornado.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/assessments/pdfs/ark61.pdf | title=Arkansas tornado outbreak | date=1997-03-01 | access-date=2013-07-21 | archive-date=2013-03-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304040018/http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/assessments/pdfs/ark61.pdf | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/images/pdfs/Mary%20Woods%202-13-02.pdf | title=History of the Mary Woods No. 2 | access-date=2013-07-21 | archive-date=2016-03-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233149/http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/images/pdfs/Mary%20Woods%202-13-02.pdf | url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''Mary Woods No. 2'' was restored in 2000 and reopened to the public at a cost of $870,000.<ref name=arkpark /> This restoration "brought the steamboat as close to her actual operating appearance as possible," including shelves stocked with canned goods and tables set for dinner.<ref name=arkpark />
However, on January 31, 2010, the sterwheeler again sank at her moorings amidst light snow cover. Police investigators fingered two men who had visited the site of the museum ship that night and had left footprints in the snow. The county prosecutor charged the men with sinking the ship and their bond was set at $500,000. In June 2000, the men were cleared of charges relating to the sinking of the ''Mary Woods No. 2'' and released from jail because divers had discovered evidence that a rusty pipe and a hull leak had likely caused the sinking.<ref name="nris" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Off the Beaten Path, Arkansas |last=DeLano |first=Patti |year=2005 |edition=9th |publisher=Morris Book Publishing |location=Guilford, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-7627-4856-3 |issn=1537-0550 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kait8.com/story/12675199/rusted-pipe-plays-part-in-mary-woods-ii-sinking?clienttype=printable |title = Rusted Pipe plays part in Mary Woods II sinking| date=June 19, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=The Commercial Appeal - Memphis Breaking News and Sports | url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/01/man-says-reputation-sank-with-steamboat/?print=1 | access-date=2025-12-28 | website=www.commercialappeal.com}}</ref> The Arkansas Parks and Tourism Department decided that rebuilding the steamboat was not economically feasible.<ref name=arkpark /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thv11.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=146401 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102200706/http://www.thv11.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=146401 |archive-date=2014-01-02 |title=Mary Woods II won't be rebuilt {{!}} thv11.com}}</ref>
==Recreation== Jacksonport State Park offers 20 campsites (class A), playground, pavilion, swimming beach along the White River and the Tunstall Riverwalk Trail.<ref name="guide"/>
==References== <references> <ref name="guide">{{cite web |url=https://arkansas.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=836342&p=50 |title=Arkansas State Parks Guide |page=48 |publisher=Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism |access-date=2026-02-06}}</ref>
<ref name="enc">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Jacksonport State Park |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/jacksonport-state-park-1226/ |author=Staff of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism |date=October 10, 2024 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Arkansas |publisher=Central Arkansas Library System |access-date=2026-02-06}}</ref> </references>
==External links== {{commons category|Jacksonport State Park}} * [http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/jacksonport/ Jacksonport State Park] Arkansas State Parks
{{Protected areas of Arkansas}} {{National Register of Historic Places}}
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Category:State parks of Arkansas Category:Protected areas of Jackson County, Arkansas Category:Museums in Jackson County, Arkansas Category:History museums in Arkansas Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Category:National Register of Historic Places in Jackson County, Arkansas Category:Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Category:1965 establishments in Arkansas Category:Protected areas established in 1965