1820 and Territorial Randolph County

When The Arkansas Territory was created in 1820, the first Territorial Legislature met at Arkansas Post.  The importance of Randolph County is shown in that the three most important offices of that first legislature, President, Secretary and Congressional Representative, were all residents of what’s now Randolph County, within part of the original, huge “Lawrence County” made up of much of northern Arkansas and part of southern Missouri.

The 1820 US Census showed that 40% of the residents of Arkansas Territory lived in what was then Lawrence County even though many of the 33 counties that made up Lawrence County had already split off. Randolph County was the center of that population.

Also, 80% of the early settlers of Arkansas entered the state at Pitman’s Ferry (called The Gateway to the Southwest) in Randolph County on the Old Military Road (also known as the Southwest Trail).