Abandoned Towns
View from a grassy hilltop through trees to a wide river and a wooded far shore

River and lake town

Cadron Settlement

A frontier town laid out in 1818 where Cadron Creek meets the Arkansas River. It nearly became the territorial capital, held a county seat twice, and was empty by 1831. Three years later hundreds of Cherokee were stranded here on the Trail of Tears.

35°06′26″N 92°32′44″W · ≈360 ft

Photo: Valis55, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Overview

The town that lost to Little Rock

The rebuilt blockhouse behind a split-rail fence, May 2016
The rebuilt blockhouse behind a split-rail fence, May 2016 · Photo: Valis55, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Cadron stood on a hill above the Arkansas River where Cadron Creek flows in, about five miles west of today's Conway. John McElmurry was living there before 1818, when he and three partners laid out a town of about 64 acres. A ferry crossed the river and the creek, trails ran to Arkansas Post, St. Louis and Hot Springs, and McElmurry's blockhouse served as his home, tavern and fur-trading post.

For a moment Cadron looked like a capital. In February 1820 a bill proposed moving the territorial capital there from Arkansas Post, but an amendment swapped in Little Rock, which won. Cadron was made the Pulaski County seat that June and lost it to Little Rock within two years. It became the temporary seat of the new Conway County in 1825, but McElmurry died in 1827, Indian removal cut into the fur trade, and the town was abandoned by 1831.

In 1834 low water stranded a large party of Cherokee being moved west, perhaps as many as 724 people, at the empty townsite, and cholera killed many of them. A 1991 census by the Faulkner County Historical Society counted 44 Indian graves and 36 more it couldn't identify. The site became a park in the late 1970s, with a blockhouse rebuilt from Thomas Nuttall's 1820 sketch.

Timeline

Capital hopes, county seats and the Trail of Tears

  1. John McElmurry settles at the mouth of Cadron Creek. In the early 1800s "Cadron Settlement" loosely means thirty to forty white families along the river near the creek.
  2. McElmurry and three other investors lay out the town of Cadron on about 64 acres. The plat is lost; up to fourteen blocks of half-acre lots may have surrounded a square.
  3. Naturalist Thomas Nuttall visits in March 1819 and again in 1820, and finds little good ground for a town. His 1820 sketch of a blockhouse later guides the park's reconstruction.
  4. Weekly mail service begins. Cadron becomes the Pulaski County seat on June 28, and a bill in February to move the territorial capital to Cadron is amended to name Little Rock instead.
  5. Little Rock wins the capital, effective June 1. In October the legislature moves county government to Little Rock too; it is there by March 1822.
  6. The post office moves to Point Remove.
  7. Cadron is the temporary seat of new Conway County, and the circuit court meets there through 1829. McElmurry dies in 1827. By 1831 the town is abandoned.
  8. Low water strands a party of Cherokee being removed west, perhaps as many as 724 people, at Cadron. Cholera kills many. Their officer, Lt. Joseph W. Harris, writes of camping among "few tall chimneys."
  9. Elias Stone plats a town called Cadron Burg. It comes to nothing.
  10. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  11. The Faulkner County Historical Society, the Conway Chamber of Commerce and the Army Corps of Engineers create the park and build a blockhouse as a bicentennial project. It is dedicated October 14, 1979.
  12. A Historical Society cemetery census records 44 Indian graves and 36 graves it can't identify.
  13. Vandals burn the blockhouse. The second reconstruction is finished in 1998.
  14. The Park Service's Trail of Tears listing describes the park's blockhouse, Trail of Tears exhibits, trails and boat ramp.
  15. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas entry, updated August 24, 2026, says the grounds are free to enter.

1834

Stranded at Cadron

Cadron sits on the Arkansas River water route of the Trail of Tears. In 1834 a party of Cherokee traveling west by boat was stranded here by low water. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says the group may have numbered as many as 724, and the Park Service says more than 700; Wikipedia counts 700 to 800 Native Americans stopping here during removal. Both Wikipedia and the Park Service say the stranded group camped about 16 days. Cholera broke out. Their officer, Lt. Joseph W. Harris, who was sick himself, wrote of camping among "few tall chimneys" and the wreck of a once comfortable house, which tells us how little of the town was left three years after it emptied.

The group buried its dead and went on by land. Wikipedia says Harris's journal records 81 deaths before the journey ended. The Park Service notes the site is 99 miles by water from the end of the water route in Indian Territory. Wikipedia adds that Muscogee, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole people also passed through during removal.

The Historical Society's 1991 census found 44 Indian graves and 36 graves it couldn't identify, and the Encyclopedia says there may be many more unmarked graves. Treat the ground as a cemetery.

What's left

Cadron Settlement Park

Painted rocks on the bluff above the Arkansas River in the park, November 2022
Painted rocks on the bluff above the Arkansas River in the park, November 2022 · Photo: Marcus O. Bst, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Nothing of the 1818 town stands. Cadron Settlement Park covers about 150 acres, and the City of Conway runs it under a lease from the Army Corps of Engineers. The city lists the blockhouse replica, the Cherokee Trail of Tears area, a boat ramp to the Arkansas River, hiking trails, restrooms, picnic sites and two pavilions, which must be reserved. The Park Service's Trail of Tears page, updated March 10, 2026, lists two Trail of Tears exhibits, one with audio description.

The blockhouse is the second copy. The first, built from Nuttall's 1820 sketch and dedicated in 1979, was burned by vandals, in 1991 by the Historical Society's account and 1992 by the Encyclopedia's, and rebuilt in 1998. Sources disagree on whether you can go inside. The Encyclopedia says the interior can be used for a small fee, but the Historical Society's public-use policy, adopted in 2010, says the building has no utilities or staff and isn't open for public use, only as a backdrop for events and photos.

Photos taken in November 2022 show painted rocks on the bluff over the river. A 2020 magazine story describes a colonial reenactment, the Siege of Cadron, held at the blockhouse that January, and says it takes place on the last weekend of each January; we found no current event schedule.

  • No buildings from the town
  • Blockhouse reconstruction (1998)
  • Trail of Tears exhibits and the cemetery area
  • The hilltop over the mouth of Cadron Creek
USGS topographic map of the Arkansas River with Cadron Creek, State Highway 319 and Cadron Settlement Lane
USGS The National Map, topo. The Arkansas River runs down the left side, with Cadron Creek at the top. State Highway 319 and Cadron Settlement Lane lead in from the east, and the Faulkner–Perry county line follows the river.
Aerial view of a wide green river beside a wooded hill with park roads
Aerial imagery, same area. The wooded hill of the park beside the river, with roads and clearings near the bottom.

The 1892 sheet in the historic maps below shows Cadron Creek joining the river, the railroad and Meniffe (today's Menifee) to the north, the name Cadron Ridge, and Sevier Ferry across the river. The 1961 Gleason sheet shows the river and the mouth of Cadron Creek at large scale.

Historic maps

Cadron Settlement on USGS maps, 1892–1983

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Cadron Settlement, 1892
Morrillton sheet, 1892, 1:125,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Conway is next door. Both routes take US 64 west out of Conway and AR 319 to the park, and end at the park about 20 meters from the mapped point. They were computed from OpenStreetMap and haven't been driven by us.

USGS topographic map from Conway west to Cadron Settlement Park on the Arkansas River, with the route drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Conway8.2 miabout 16 min
  1. From downtown Conway, take Locust Avenue and Oak Street to Harkrider Street (US 64), follow it west through two roundabouts and turn onto Old Morrilton Highway.2.2 mi
  2. Continue west on Old Morrilton Highway (US 64) through a roundabout.4.1 mi
  3. Turn left on AR 319, then right into the park.1.9 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • We have no dated report on the park road's surface.
  • Hours aren't posted by the city; call Conway Parks and Recreation at 501-450-6186.
  • The pavilions must be reserved through the city's rental portal.
  • Unmarked graves may lie anywhere near the Trail of Tears area. Stay on the paths there.

Photos

Cadron Settlement in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Cadron Settlement?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

River and lake

More river and lake ghost towns

The nearest in Arkansas.

A straight concrete path across a wide mown lawn toward a line of big shade treesGuide

Arkansas Post

34.02, -91.35

Arkansas County, Arkansas

The oldest European settlement in Arkansas and the first capital of Arkansas Territory. It lost the capital in 1821, the county seat in 1855 and its…

National memorial · open dailyRiver and lake
A tall open frame of dark steel beams in the shape of a two-story building, standing on a gravel pad in a grassy field under oaksGuide

Davidsonville

36.15, -91.06

Randolph County, Arkansas

A river town of the 1810s and 1820s that held Arkansas's first post office, first courthouse and first federal land office. It was empty by statehood…

State park · open dailyRiver and lake

All 58 river and lake ghost towns →

Nearby

Other sites near Cadron Settlement

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arkansas index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. Encyclopedia of Arkansas, "Cadron Settlement" by David Peterson and Bill Norman, updated August 24, 2026: McElmurry, the 1818 town and its lots, the ferry, trails and 1820 mail, the capital and county-seat votes, the 1824 post office move, Conway County, abandonment by 1831, Nuttall, the 1834 Cherokee and Harris's chimneys, the 1991 graves census, Cadron Burg, the park, the 1979 dedication, the 1992 fire and 1998 rebuild, free grounds and the interior fee.
  2. Wikipedia, "Cadron Settlement Park", retrieved October 2026: 150 acres, the Conway lease, the 1979 date, amenities, 700 to 800 people stranded about 16 days, Harris's 81 deaths, the other nations, National Register listing of May 17, 1974, coordinates (GNIS).
  3. National Park Service, Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, "Cadron Settlement Park", updated March 10, 2026: Conway Parks and Recreation as manager, the water route, about 700 stranded 16 days, 99 miles by water to Indian Territory, the blockhouse, two exhibits, amenities.
  4. City of Conway, "Cadron Settlement Park", read October 2026: address, phone, about 150 acres, the Corps lease, the blockhouse and Trail of Tears area, boat ramp, trails, restrooms, two pavilions by reservation.
  5. Faulkner County Historical Society, "Cadron Blockhouse", read October 2026: McElmurray's blockhouse, the 1976 park, the 1979 replica, the 1991 fire and 1998 rebuild, the 2010 public-use policy.
  6. Linda Henderson, "The siege of Cadron", 501 Life, December 31, 2020: the colonial reenactment at the blockhouse in January 2020, held each year on the last weekend of January.
  7. Photos on Wikimedia Commons, dated by their camera metadata: Valis55, May 30, 2016; Marcus O. Bst, November 20, 2022 (camera positions in the park).
  8. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits