Lee County

The man who steered Lee County into existence was a Black Republican, William Hines Furbush. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says the county was created on April 17, 1873, from parts of Phillips, Monroe, St. Francis and Crittenden counties, and that Furbush likely chose Robert E. Lee's name to reassure Democratic backers around Marianna. As sheriff he built a fusion arrangement between the Democratic minority and the Black Republican majority. It ended in 1878, when Democratic intimidation of Republicans let Democrats sweep nearly every county race, and Furbush won a seat in the state House as a Democrat.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mississippi River State Park — 8.9 mi
  A state park and gateway to the St. Francis National Forest, where the river, Crowley's Ridge and the Delta meet, with a Trail of Tears site at the Mississippi and St. Francis confluence.
• Louisiana Purchase State Park — 19 mi
  A National Historic Landmark in a headwater swamp where Phillips, Lee and Monroe counties meet, marking the initial point of every survey of the Louisiana Purchase lands.
• Elaine Massacre Memorial — 20 mi
  A memorial dedicated in 2019 in Helena for the Black people killed by white mobs and troops in the 1919 Elaine Massacre, the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history.
• Delta Cultural Center — 20 mi
  A state museum in downtown Helena where King Biscuit Time, the longest-running daily blues radio show, is broadcast live from the Visitors Center.

More markers nearby

• Moro in the Civil War — 13 mi
• Prelude to Helena — 13 mi
• Battery B — 19 mi
• Battery A — 19 mi