Lunenburg, Arkansas
|
|
Lunenburg, Arkansas (originally spelled Lunenburgh) was first settled by a German. He said, "Call her Lunenburgh, by God !!" Lunenburg is one of the earliest settlements of Izard County, Arkansas, according to some old deeds and land claim documents, some of which date as far back as 1820. But, as of "nowadays" more people have moved into the next bigger town, which is Melbourne, Arkansas.
However, Lunenburg is currently more "territorial" than it is like a small town, although it reached its peak in 1900 when it did in fact have a higher population than Melbourne. [Izard Co. pop chart of 1900.] But, nowadays, to strangers looking in, it is like missing something when they blink... but, to the citizens of the community... it is a whole lot bigger than meets the eye!!
Lunenburg once had about 2 school buildings: the original 2-story wooden building was built in 1868 during the reconstruction period right after the Civil War; built with square nails, this once very beautiful, interesting, and historic school building collapsed in 1989 due to neglect, after standing for 121 years. Only one of the school buildings still remains today, being built of rock & it's now known as the Lunenburg Community Center, but it was also one of the 2 church buildings of Lunenburg. There was actually another school located just a few more miles from Lunenburg, possibly known as "Sandy Flat School." Of Lunenburg's 2 churches: the main one was believed to have been called "Rocky Bayou Baptist" (also possibly the same building as the 2nd school rock building built around 1940--which is also currently known as the Lunenburg Community Center). The second church was called "Bethel Baptist", now gone; 2 store buildings, both are gone; a sawmill was there in 1890, run by A.W. Langston,(he was born in 1869)and according to his son, Mr. Wesley Langston of Salem AR, his father A.W. Langston would raft 34 ft. of lumber down the White River to ship it to Newark. A post office still remains, but it looks more like an old house today; a very small saloon still remains; a cotton gin, now gone; and a horseshoe shop still remains behind the old post office. Lunenburg also has 3 different cemeteries: the first main, biggest one is the "Lunenburg Cemetery"; the second smaller one is known as the "Pratt Cemetery"; and the third cemetery is known as the "Smith Cemetery."
The creek that runs all through Lunenburg is known as "Rocky Bayou Creek". The community actually has about 3 different high-water bridges for this same creek. Two of the known bridges are public boxcar bridges and the third bridge is located on a dead-end road. There are also about 3-5 different low-water bridges for this very same creek, one of them had later been replaced for one of the public high-water bridges instead, although the old "dip", as it was always called, still remains to be seen underneath the running creek water.
Several people still live in this very small & very old community where the population is only about 60 or more. Today, Lunenburg is now known as the rural part of Melbourne, even though it's exact area can still be located on the internet. This community is located in north central Arkansas.