Louisiana Purchase State Park near Brinkley helps preserve a pivotal piece of history tied to the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.

“Louisiana Purchase State Park is a small park that offers different experiences,” said Ryan Smith, a park interpreter at Louisiana Purchase State Park and Delta Heritage Trail State Park. “A boardwalk provides access and allows you to experience a rare headwater swamp while not actually having to walk though it. Here you see towering bald cypress and water tupelo trees and get a feel of the Delta landscape before it was drained and forests cleared for agriculture. At the end of the boardwalk and out in a swamp is a granite monument that commemorates the initial point created in 1815 for a survey of lands in the Louisiana Purchase. While a round-trip hike on the boardwalk is less than ½ mile you get a fulfilling historical and natural landscape experience that each on its own is worth a trip to the park.”

A main feature of the park is a stone monument that helps mark and visualize the intersection of the historic 5th Principal Meridian and Baseline survey line, made in 1815 by U.S. Government survey teams. The monument can be seen from the park’s elevated boardwalk, which is a National Recreation Trail. Park interpretive panels further highlight the surrounding swamp landscape and historical importance of the area. More about this history can be found in this article.

“The boardwalk is Barrier Free, ADA, and offers the opportunity to experience the swamp,” said Smith. “Visiting the park at different times of the year allows you to see how the water level changes like it did across the Delta region before it was settled.”

Louisiana Purchase State Park is a National Historic Landmark, a natural area, and Arkansas’ 18th state park. The site helps preserve an important piece of Arkansas and U.S. history and also provides ecological protection for a headwater swamp.

“First, it looks just like it did when the 1815 surveyors passed through the park,” said Smith. “They describe the location as being “very low and swampy with cypress”…“Cannot well say what is the bearing of this swamp or its width.” This exactly describes the area today. As far as history, what makes this place unique is that it really is the place where “property begins.” A person(s) cannot own a piece of land until the tract is measured and the initial point is the place this started in the lands the United States acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. It’s hard to realize just how remote this location was just after the Louisiana Purchase. It was really just a blank space on the map.”

Further details about the location can be found in this article and in this article. 

As to surprising aspects about the park, “the first thing that sticks out is while less than 40 acres, the park is actually in three counties, Monroe, Phillips, and Lee,” said Smith. “The three counties come together at the initial point. Another thing is that the water level does vary and often nearly dries in the fall. In fact, the granite monument had been planned to be placed in 1925 but they had to wait until the fall of 1926 when the water had lowered. It, however, is relatively stable and flooding is not usually a concern. The relatively stable water level is a characteristic of a headwater swamp and water tupelo thrive in an environment like this.”

More information about the Louisiana Purchase can also be found at the Central Delta Depot Museum at 100 W Cypress Street in Brinkley. The museum is housed in a 1912 railroad depot and includes exhibits on area history. Information panels about the Louisiana Purchase as well as a small exhibit on the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase can be seen here. A painting called “The Baseline," commissioned by the Central Delta Historical Society, can be found there too. 

More details about Louisiana Purchase State Park as well as directions to the park can be found at arkansasstateparks.com/parks/louisiana-purchase-state-park.