Princeton, Dallas
County, Arkansas
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 When the railroad first came to Dallas County, it missed Princeton.
Many today are unaware that the thriving community of Princeton
was once a leader in South Arkansas and the first County
Seat of Dallas County. Princeton had the first Post Office
in the county, in the home of Presley Watts, Postmaster.
The early schools in the area were at first private, but
later public schools served effectively by 1874. The first
public school building was a two-room building. It was used
until 1898, when a new two-room building was built west of
Highway 9 in the northern part of town. This building was
used until 1936. The school consolidation of the 1930's and
40's reached Princeton in 1936. The Works Project Administration
(WPA) built a brick veneer building that served until 1965
when the Princeton School District was consolidated with
Fordyce. A small part of the school district was consolidated
with Sparkman that same year.
The early churches in the Princeton area were the Princeton
Baptist Church (led by Rev. Bayless of Tulip Baptist Church,
who preached and pastored in Princeton as early as 1847, when
a church building was built it Princeton), the Princeton Methodist
(itinerant preachers from 1843 until Rev. Hayes began a work
and a building was built in 1846) and the Princeton Presbyterian
(led by Rev. A. R. Banks in 1846, who divided his time between
the Tulip congregation and the Princeton congregation). The
Ben Few Campgrounds organized in 1898 and named after Rev.
Ben A. Few, was a popular place for revival meetings. The first
year the meetings were held in a brush arbor. In 1899, the
land was cleared and a log tabernacle was erected. The log
tabernacle was lighted by coal oil lamps. People traveled in
buggies, wagons and on horseback to attend the meetings. Rev.
R. W. McKay was the first evangelist to hold a meeting at the
camp.
In 1850, Princeton had four doctors and one dentist. The dentist
was Dr. C. C. Adams. The doctors were Dr. Peter Clark, Dr.
Miller W. McCraw. Dr. William F. Smith and Dr. W. E. Clark.
Although it is popularly believed to be a fact, Princeton
and Fordyce were never connected by rail service the promise
of prosperity offered by the railroads made change necessary.
Princeton remained the Dallas County Seat until 1908 when it
was moved to Fordyce.
Source: Merritt, Richard (1976) Review of Dallas County, AR
History gleaned from the Bicentennial Edition of the FORDYCE-NEWS
ADVOCATE.
Resources
- Cemeteries,these
are the Cemeteries located within 10 miles of Princeton,
Arkansas. If I have missed any, please let me know. Only
cemeteries in blue have been canvassed.
- Churches
- Census
- Maps
- Other links
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