Erbie Area: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Buffalo National River, National Park Service

The Erbie Rural Historic District is located along the upper portion of the Buffalo River, within the boundary of the Buffalo National River park unit in northern Arkansas. The district is centered on the community of Erbie, which developed as an historic town site within an agricultural community during the nineteenth century. Cecil and Cove Creeks meet to form a tributary watershed approximately one mile north of the Buffalo River. The village site was situated at a crossroads just north of the river and south of Cecil Creek. Originally settled in the 1830s, Erbie eventually developed into a thriving small community with a church, store, and various dwellings, serving as a center of social interaction among those who lived on the scattered farms of the surrounding valley. The period of significance for the Erbie Historic District begins in 1830 with construction of one of the earliest known settlements of the Buffalo River area, known today as the Parker-Hickman Farmstead. The period extends through the peak of settlement and agricultural development and ends with the passing of Graden Hickman in 1978, the final family member to occupy the Parker-Hickman farm and the last remaining full-time resident in the district. The Parker-Hickman farm stood vacant after 1978, though it was cared for by Robert Hickman until the National Park Service (NPS) assumed ownership in 1982. It remains one of the most intact farmsteads along the river, and the dwelling and most of the outbuildings date to the original ownership. The property histories of this and the entire Erbie community parallel that of the Ozark region, illustrating patterns of early settlement in the Buffalo River Valley. The Erbie Historic District depicts a developed agricultural community within a rural landscape, evolving as settlers farmed, lived, and worked in the area. Farmsteads dot both sides of the river valley, nestled into the hollows created by the river's tributaries. The historical center of Erbie formed at a crossing of two roads north of the Buffalo River, expanding to include nearly a dozen buildings. The first post office was petitioned for in 1895, and the following year the foundation for the church was laid. The current standing church dates to ca. 1900; it was constructed on the original foundation. The community reached a population of 100 people by 1930. Many of the building sites and foundation remains are largely overgrown, but most retain a sufficient amount of physical evidence to express their character and arrangement. Features such as the spring on the Huchingson property, domestic plantings, and fence lines also contribute to the overall setting. With the passage of time, dwellings were improved, crops selection changed, and electricity entered the region; still, the landscape largely retained its early twentieth-century character. Erbie continued as an active agricultural community until the land was purchased by NPS, making it a significant cultural landscape associated with both historical settlements and the continual development of a rural agricultural community. The church is the only remaining building within the village of Erbie, although the surrounding area includes three intact farmsteads, various home and building sites, agricultural fields, transportation networks, and both family and community cemeteries. Collectively, these properties retain a sufficient degree of integrity and effectively communicate the rural agricultural heritage of the district. The remaining foundations in the village and house sites, as well as several smaller features of the landscape such as fence rows and stock ponds, represent the relationship between the inhabitants and the land over time. Extant buildings reflect traditional building patterns and materials, and area farmsteads retain arrangements and spatial organization representative of the Arkansas Ozarks.

Erbie Area: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Buffalo National River, National Park Service

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