The first white man thought to have visited the Polk County area was Hernando DeSoto in 1541,after visiting the'healing waters of the Hot Springs'.Depending on which version of history you follow,some feel DeSoto came into Polk County then turned south.While others say he turned south after battling the Caddo Indians at Caddo Gap,just west of what is now Glenwood.
Actual settlement of the area started around 1930 in the Old Dallas area.Arkanas was made a state in 1836 and legislatures voted to make the county in 1844.The county was named after president James K. Polk.At this time Old Dallas was the county seat.The first court house was erected there.
In the 1890s the Kansas City,Pittsburg&Gulf Railroad,(now the Kansas City Southern) went thru Polk County.It missed the town of Dallas,but stopped at the town of Mena,about three and a half miles northwest.In a short time Mena became a very important town between Fort Smith and Texarkana.
In June of 1897 there was a county wide election to move the county seat from Old Dallas to Mena.In the the town of Mena the vote was 738 to 1, and county wide 70 to 13.The vote carried, so in August 1897 Mena became the county seat.
Polk County is a rural area with much of its 860 square miles in the National Forrest.Rich Mountain, just west of Mena is the second highest mountain in Arkansas at 2,682 feet.The Ouachita Mountain,(pronounced Washita) range is the only range in the United States who's main ridges run east and west,instead of north and south.The Talimena Scenic Drive,which runs across the top of Rich Moutain, is an official 54 mile U.S. Scenic Drive and winds between Mena and Talihina Oklahoma.
On top of Rich Mountain there is the Queen Wilhelmina State Park,with a Lodge and Restaurant.The original lodge was built by the the railroad in 1897 for Queen Wilhelmina of Holland,who helped finance the railroad.It was abandoned three years after being built.It was purchased by the State in 1958 and restored.The lodge was destroyed by a fire in 1973 but was immediately rebuilt.
There are three main watersheds in Polk County,the Cossatot,which starts in the Shady Community and runs south,feeding Gilham Lake,then continuing south into the Little River in Sevier County.The Ouachita,which starts in the northwest corner of the county and travels east across the county.It feeds Lake Ouachita in Montgomery County,then Lake Hamilton at Hot Springs,before turning south.The third is the Mountain Fork which starts in the Mountain Fork Community,and travels down the west side of the county,before entering Oklahoma.It continues south where it feeds Broken Bow Lake at Beavers Bend State Park,near Broken Bow Oklahoma.It too goes south and and flows into the Little River.There are a number of main streams such as Six Mile,Rolling Fork and the Big Fork, plus others,too numerous to menton. |
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