Shiloh is a populated area that lies partly in Russellville and partly in unincorporated Pope County, Arkansas, United States.[1] It is located between Interstate 40 and Dover on Arkansas Highway 7.
Shiloh, Arkansas | |
|---|---|
  Shiloh, Arkansas Position in Arkansas | |
| Coordinates: 35°19′07″N 93°08′09″W / 35.31861°N 93.13583°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Arkansas |
| County | Pope |
| City | Russellville |
| Elevation | 108 m (354 ft) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 62079 |
Shiloh, as a populated place, is one of the oldest in Pope County with Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church[2] established in the 1830s on Shiloh Creek[3] at what was known as the Williamson (or, later, Shiloh) camp ground,[4] which was used for religious camp meetings,[5] common on the American frontier for worship, preaching and communion during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century.
The Shiloh area was the scene of a notorious event on 8 July 1872 during the Pope County Militia War where it was alleged a sheriff's posse (militia) opened fire on four unarmed men in their custody, killing two. [6][7][8][9][10] The four men had been arrested for suspicion of firing on and wounding deputy-sheriff John H. Williams after he returned home following a 4th of July barbecue held by the radical faction of the Republican party, though it was believed by many that the evidence of the shooting and wounding was staged by the sheriff.[11]
On 25 June, 1935, a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established east of Shiloh church. While many CCC camps worked in forests and parks, the primary focus of Camp Shiloh, also known as Fort Shiloh, was soil conservation, performing work to remedy soil erosion.[12]
In the 1960s, prior to the filling of the new Lake Dardanelle, remains from four historical cemeteries—Shiloh, Williamson, and Smith in Pope County and Jetton and Reznor in Johnson County—were moved to a new cemetery named Shiloh-Williamson Memorial Cemetery near the original location of the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church.[13]
Two Russellville city parks, Shiloh Park and Pleasant View Park, provide recreational and other opportunities in the Shiloh area on and next to lands reclaimed from abandoned surface coal mines.[14][15]
References
edit- ^ "Feature Detail Report for: Shiloh, Arkansas." USGS. [1] Retrieved November 19, 2022.
- ^ "Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Russellville, Arkansas". The Journal of Presbyterian History. 91 (2): 98. 2013. JSTOR 24463366. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
Special Issue on Congregational History (Fall/Winter 2013)
- ^ "Shiloh Creek". Geographic Names Information System. U.S.Geological Survey (USGS). Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ West, D. Porter (1903). Early History of Pope County.
- ^ Powell, Gladys (1945). "The Political Career of John L. Williamson". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 4 (3): 231–233. doi:10.2307/40037538. JSTOR 40037538.
The third camp meeting in the Arkansas territory was held by the Cumberland Presbyterians on the Williamson camp grounds in 1832. 4 Two years later John L. Williamson and his sons built a log meetinghouse for their little community, then known as Shiloh.
- ^ "Pope County Militia War". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). Retrieved 21 November 2022.
The posse, taking their prisoners to Dardanelle (Yell County), crossed Shiloh Creek in the dark when shots were fired into the group of prisoners. Tucker and William Hale were shot from their horses; both were killed. West was thrown from his horse and hid in the brush, while Nicholas Hale fled and rode to Dover. Posse members maintained that they had been ambushed by unknown individuals attempting to free the prisoners and that the two dead men were shot while trying to escape, while the escaped prisoners averred that the posse had attempted to murder them, and even said that Dodson found Tucker alive though wounded and shot him in the head in the aftermath.
- ^ "Dying Statement of W.T. Hale". Daily Arkansas Gazette. No. 205. 26 July 1872. p. 1.
...we traveled on to the Williamson camp ground, about seven miles from Dover... We had marched but a short distance... a gun was discharged on my right, and I looked around; and about that I received a shot in my right shoulder, after which I got off my mare, and got out of sight of the road and sat down by a tree.
- ^ "The Pope County Affair". Daily Arkansas Gazette. No. 205. 26 July 1872. p. 1.
Thus we see how Gov. Hadley disbanded this militia who had killed two harmless prisoners...
- ^ "Pope County. Truthful Account of the Troubles and the Farce of an Examination". Daily Arkansas Gazette. No. 210. Little Rock, Arkansas. 1 August 1872. p. 1.
The following are the facts of the murder of William Hale and Joe Tucker, committed by... members of Deputy Sheriff Williams' militia...They then started with the four prisoners, as they said, to Dardanelle, in Yell County, stating that they expected to be bushwhacked, arriving at the Williamson camp-ground, about a half an hour by sun...
- ^ "The Pope County Difficultiea Again". Daily Arkansas Gazette. No. 212. 3 August 1872. p. 2.
Lib West, one of the prisoners, as detailed before the coroner's jury: 'A short time afterward we arrived at Shiloh church, about three or four miles from Russellville...
- ^ The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year. New York: D. Appleton and Company. 1873. p. 29. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
On the 4th of that month, 'barbecues' were held by both political parties, one at Shiloh Camp-ground, in Pope County... The county officers... had been charged with some irregularities in office, and had many bitter political enemies. In returning from the Republican barbecue to the town of Russellville, Williams, the deputy-sheriff, according to his own representations, was fired upon and wounded. The sheriff and the County Clerk thereupon formed a posse of citizens, proceeded to Dover, and arrested four persons suspected of participation, and believed to have uttered threats, at various times, against the county officers.
- ^ "Shiloh C.C.C. Camp". History of Pope County. Russellville, Arkansas: Pope County Historical Association. 1999. pp. 26–27.
- ^ "Flood Control Bid". Hope Star. 29 March 1962. p. 8.
The cemeteries are the Shiloh, Williamson and Smith of Pope County and the Jetton and Reznor in Johnson County. A total of 711 graves will be moved to a new site north of Russellville. The new cemetery will be known as the Shiloh Williamson Memorial Cemetery.
- ^ Office of Surface Mining Annual Report Fiscal Year 1993. Washington, D.C.: US Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining. January 1994. p. 31. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
1993 National Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation award: The Shiloh Reclamation Project, in Russellville, Arkansas, was a joint effort by the Corps of Engineers, the City of Russellville, the Russellville Rotary Club, and the AML Fund. The project eliminated abandoned mine hazards at site that was partially flooded by the Arkansas River and frequently used as a recreation site by local residents. Major regrading and landscaping of the area with more than 2,600 trees and shrubs resulted in a high quality, hazard-free recreation center for local residents.
- ^ "Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program". Natural Resources Revenue Data. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
The Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Program uses fees paid by present-day coal mining companies to reclaim coal mines abandoned before 1977... Abandoned mines pose risks to people and the environment. They can contaminate ground water, emit toxic waste, and cause injury when unsteady infrastructures collapse.