Old Stamps Place Was Stagecoach Stop
Floyd/El Paso

According to the White County Historical Society, this house was probably built by in 1832 by Capt. James Walker, a veteran of the War of 1812.

Known as "The Old Stamps Place," this house served in its early days as a stagecoach stop on the old Southwest Trail. It was located four miles southwest of Floyd on the road to El Paso, built on what later became the J.A. Choate Farm. Donald Choate built a pump house over the original well located at the right in this illustration and used it for his home.

The Old Stamps Place was torn down many years ago. But the old chimney rock base was still there in 1978 when this sketch was completed by Robert (Bobby) Van Patten of Searcy. The illustration was based on a black and white photo made by Claude E. Johnson and was published in Johnson's book, "A Humorous History of White County."

The house was originally about 300 yards east of the chimney rock base, almost on the creek and south of an old cemetery. The Southwest Trail ran in front of the property. Occasional flooding on the creek probably forced the move to higher ground.

The above is an excerpt from Claude Johnson's "Humorous History of White County," which is available for $10 postage paid from the White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 537, Searcy, AR 72145. Johnson was president of the Historical Society in 1970 and '71. He died in 1981.