The location of the county seat for Lawrence County has been contentious over the years. From the early days at Davidsonville, to Jackson, Smithville and Clover Bend, the county seat moved frequently before being established at Powhatan. Soon though Walnut Ridge would vie for the honor of being county seat, before sharing the role with Powhatan from 1890-1963.
The debate on moving the county seat still came up frequently during that time.
In 1887, an election was held to remove the county seat from Powhatan to Smithville. 2800 votes were cast with Smithville receiving only 497.1b
in 1903, C.T. Burns, an attorney in Black Rock, led the interest in removing the county seat to Black Rock.1 Leaders of this movement argued that Powhatan with a population of not more than 150, and Black Rock with 1,800, was not fit to be the county seat.1a
In 1907, County Judge L.B. Poindexter and H.L. Ponder led the cause of relocating the courthouse to Black Rock. G.W. Wells led the resistance. The efforts to move the courthouse were defeated.2 973 people voted to remove the county seat and 1137 voted to keep it at Powhatan. Generally the people of Imboden and Smithville were against moving the courthouse due to wanting it located in their towns.3
In 1956, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that residents of Lawrence County could not vote that year on a measure to move the county seat from Powhatan to Walnut Ridge.4
Sources
1 Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) · Wed, Feb 11, 1903 · Page 4 county seat relocation debate.pdf
1a. Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, Arkansas) · Thu, Feb 5, 1903 · Page 3 courthouse argument 1903.pdf
1b. Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) · Wed, Sep 14, 1887 · Page 3 election about county seat 1887.pdf
2. Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas) · 18 Aug 1907, Sun · Page 6 County Courthouse fight Black Rock.pdf
3. Batesville Guard (Batesville, Arkansas) · Fri, Aug 30, 1907 · Page 2 County seat move fails.pdf
4. The Madison County Record (Huntsville, Madison, Arkansas, United States of America) · 1 Nov 1956, Thu · Page 9 Court rules against move of county seat 1958.pdf
