Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Arkansas & White Rivers

Photographed by Jason Voigt, August 2, 2024

1. Arkansas & White Rivers Marker

Inscription. The Mississippi’s southernmost major tributary, the Arkansas, is born from melting snow on the eastern slopes of the Continental Divide near Leadville, Colorado. Its 1,450-mile course drains 160,500 square miles in five states.

Despite dramatic seasonal changes in depth, the Arkansas was a busy river in the 1800’s with keelboats and later steamboats running much of its length. However, frequent floods caused serious navigation problems and made the Arkansas basin a precarious place to live. Today, seventeen dams of the Arkansas River Navigation System control streamflow and depth. A 439-mile navigable waterway carries year-round barge traffic from northwest Oklahoma to the Mississippi River.

The Navigation System waterway abandons the Arkansas channel north of its mouth, taking a short-cut east through a bayou to reach Batesville, Arkansas. Its headwaters lie 700 miles from its mouth in the Ozarks of North-west Arkansas.

Erected by Mud Island Park.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Waterways & Vessels.

Location. 35° 8.904′ N, 90° 3.567′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It can be reached from Island Drive. Marker is located at Mud Island

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Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 57 N Mud Island, Memphis TN 38103, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in West Tennessee.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in the Upper South,

in the Mississippi Delta,

and in the Great River Road Region.

Globally, it is 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,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Ozark Island No. 75 / Napoleon, Arkansas / Rosedale, Mississippi (here, next to this marker); Victoria Bend/Montgomery Post, Arkansas/Arkansas Post/Concordia Bend (a few steps from this marker); Mounds Landing Crevasse/Cypress Bend/Caulk Neck Cutoff (a few steps from this marker); Sunflower Cutoff/Jackson Cutoff (a few steps from this marker); Ashbrook Cutoff/Eunice Landing, Arkansas/Arkansas City, Arkansas (a few steps from this marker); Island No. 63/Island No. 62/Old Town Bend (within shouting distance of this marker); Gauges and Navigation Lights (within shouting distance of this marker); American Cutoff Mile/Greenville, Mississippi/Tarpley Cutoff (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Memphis.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Arkansas & White Rivers (has been replaced with this marker).

Photographed by Jason Voigt, August 2, 2024

2. Arkansas & White Rivers Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on August 24, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 24, 2024, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois. This page has been viewed 175 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 24, 2024, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.