Cow Islands No. 47 and No. 48/West Memphis, Arkansas/President's Island No. 45

Cow Islands No. 47 and No. 48/West Memphis, Arkansas/President's Island No. 45. Mississippi River Walk. , A) Cow Islands No. 47 and No. 48 , Mile 715.0 AHP, These islands are now joined together straddling the Tennessee-Mississippi boundary. The steamer R.J. Lockwood was allegedly involved in a steamboat race when she exploded and burned in Cow Island Bend in 1866, killing a number of passengers., B) West Memphis, Arkansas , Mile 729.1 AHP, In the 1880s a busy railroad ferry, station, and yards were located near here, and the West Memphis Park was a popular amusement center and gambling location for Memphians who ferried over. The construction of the first bridge caused the area to decline. In the early 1900s, the area was busy with logging and lumber activity, and a settlement was named Bragg for the lumber company which employed almost all the population. In the early 20th Century, lumber labeled "Memphis" brought higher prices on the international market, and the settlement renamed itself West Memphis in 1827 to capitalize on the commercial advantages. The town grew very quickly in the 1930s, and busy railroad and highway traffic passed through. West Memphis has attracted a number of small businesses and a dog racing track. Its port facilities are expanding. , C) President's Island No. 45 , Mile 732.7 AHP, Two smaller islands joined in the 1800s to create the current President's Island. Two wrecked confederate rams floated downstream after the Battle of Memphis and lodged at the head of President's Island. They obstructed the stream for years and several steamboats sank after colliding with the wreckage. Late in the Civil War, the island was a refugee camp for more than 1,500 freed slaves. After the war, former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest ran a large plantation here. Later it held a prison and "pest house", where victims of highly contagious diseases were quarantined. President's Island was known as a wide-open gambling area in the 1920s, and cockfights there attracted bird from as far away as Cuba and Mexico. After World War II, the island became the focus of the Memphis Harbor Project. The north end of Tennessee Chute, behind the island, was closed by a dam and causeway, and the chute was dredged to create a large slackwater harbor, McKeller Lake. An industrial park has grown up along the harbor, and President's Island has become the busiest shallow-draft port on the Lower Mississippi.