Rich Mountain is a small residential area that is part of a larger, 200-square-mile tract of land that lies in the Ouachita Mountains and spans the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line. The name Rich Mountain applies to the mountain (which, at 2,681 feet above sea level, ranks as Arkansas’ second-highest peak) and the Polk County community at its northern base. While few people reside in the community in the 21st century, the influence of the name can still be seen in area institutions.
In 1820, the United States gave the Choctaw tribe the part of the Arkansas Territory that included Rich Mountain. The boundaries of the Choctaw land were altered in 1825 to reflect the boundary between Arkansas and Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) and again between 1831 and 1833.
The earliest white settlers went to Rich Mountain in the 1850s and 1860s. These settlers traveled to Rich Mountain for three main reasons: the rich soil, which was useful for growing vegetables; the spring water and mountain…
