Donaldson in Hot Spring County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)

Military Road
⎯⎯⎯
Settlement of Midway

Military Road side of the marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Courtesy: Wendy Richter, August 2, 2021

1. Military Road side of the marker

Inscription. Military Road The Military Road, following part of the route of the old Southwest Trail, passed through the heart of Hot Spring County and the Midway community. Now known as Midway Road, the primitive pathway served as a major thoroughfare in Arkansas's early days, carrying thousands of pioneers, soldiers, and people from all walks of life across Arkansas to Texas and the Southwest. During the Civil War, both Union and Confederate troops used the road. Significantly, Confederates retreated down the road after Little Rock fell in September 1863 and the Union Army traveled it during the Camden Expedition.

Settlement of Midway Midway appears on many early maps of Arkansas as a point "midway" between Rockport and Arkadelphia on the Ouachita River and on the Military Road. This made the place a convenient stopping point for travelers in antebellum Arkansas. American explorers William Dunbar and George Hunter noted nearby Watermelon Island in 1804. The island was later named for pioneer settler Daniel Morrison who arrived in the 1830s. Morrison amassed large landholdings in the area and farmed his property, which sat

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along and between the Ouachita River and the Military Road. Morrison’s smokehouse still stands near here on Midway Road. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Erected 2021 by City of Midway, Arkansas Heritage. (Marker Number 18.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Exploration • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Arkansas Heritage series list. A significant historical month for this entry is September 1863.

Location. 34° 15.424′ N, 92° 57.782′ W. Marker is in Donaldson, Arkansas, in Hot Spring County. It is on Midway Road (County Road 15) south of Jim Bray Drive (County Highway 628), on the right when traveling north. The marker stands on the front lawn of the Midway Community Center and Town Hall, near the main sign. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1500 Midway Rd, Donaldson AR 71941, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Arkansas’ Ouachita Mountains.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is

Settlement at Midway side of the marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Courtesy: Wendy Richter, August 2, 2021

2. Settlement at Midway side of the marker

in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Confederate Manufacturing / The Military Road (approx. 8.1 miles away); W.H. Young House (approx. 10½ miles away); Duncan's Addition (approx. 10½ miles away); Freedmen's Bureau (approx. 10.8 miles away); Flanagin Law Office (approx. 10.8 miles away); The Blakely Graveyard (approx. 10.8 miles away); Arkadelphia Courthouses (approx. 10.8 miles away); Clark County Confederate Memorial (approx. 10.8 miles away).

Military Road / Settlement of Midway Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Courtesy: Wendy Richter, August 2, 2021

3. Military Road / Settlement of Midway Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on March 24, 2022. It was originally submitted on August 2, 2021, by Ashley Sides of Little Rock, Arkansas. This page has been viewed 1,093 times since then and 117 times this year. Last updated on August 3, 2021, by Ashley Sides of Little Rock, Arkansas. Photos: 1. submitted on August 2, 2021, by Ashley Sides of Little Rock, Arkansas. 2, 3. submitted on August 3, 2021, by Ashley Sides of Little Rock, Arkansas. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.

Military Road⎯⎯⎯Settlement of Midway

Military Road
⎯⎯⎯
Settlement of Midway