--photo by Leroy Blair, 2001

Lake Barnett Cemetery

Floyd, Arkansas

Updated July 27, 2003

Leroy Blair, a member of the White County Historical Society, surveyed every known cemetery in White County.   To complete the large cemetery at Beebe, he and his wife Ellen stayed temporarily in a travel trailer at Lake Barnett R.V. Park.   The Blairs lived at Clay and the brief stay at the Park enabled them to travel easily to nearby Beebe while the survey of Beebe Cemetery was being completed.   It was during this stay in late 2001 that Blair talked to Wyatt Barnett, the Park manager, about a cemetery where he said Indians were buried.   “Mr. Barnett said that his father told him there were graves of Indians here,” Blair reported.  “I followed his directions to the graves.   I found six piles of rocks that appear to be covering graves.”

Scott Akridge, a member of the historical society and former president of the Arkansas Archeological Society, thinks these are probably graves of early pioneers.  “In my 17 years of archeology I have never encountered Indian graves or heard of Indian graves where rocks were stacked on top of the graves,” he said.  “Lake Barnett is smack in the middle of the original Southwest Trail Route.  If these stacked rocks really are graves they are likely travelers.  Since the route in this area was generally abandoned in favor of the Searcy route--probably by the 1850s, I think these graves are more likely early travelers.   These graves could possibly be very early--in the 1810 to 1840 range.” 

To reach the cemetery from Floyd, take Highway 31 north about a half-mile to Reed Access Road to Lake Barnett.  Take the Access Road to the boat launch ramp.  The graves are located in the woods on the left side of the parking area for the boat ramp.  They are about 100 feet back in the woods, according to Blair’s report.

If you have information on this burial site, contact the White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 537, Searcy, AR 72145.