Parkin Archeological State Park

Parkin Archeological State Park, in Cross County on the St. Francis River, preserves a Mississippian village that stood here from about AD 1000 to 1550. The village covered about seventeen acres and was enclosed by the river on one side and a moat on three, with a wooden palisade, and a large platform mound still overlooks the river. It is believed to be the most intact village of its time in northeast Arkansas.

European-made trade items from the era of Hernando de Soto's expedition were found here, and written descriptions of the village support the theory that de Soto's party visited in 1541. Many archeologists think Parkin may be Casqui, a town named in the expedition's journals. The site survived because of the town that grew over it. After Parkin was founded in 1887, cotton farmers could not plow across the wide ditch that had been the moat, and a sawmill and homes were built within the old village. A University of Arkansas field school in 1965 tested whether enough of the deposits were intact to justify a park. The park also keeps the Northern Ohio School, a one-room school for African American children.

A research station of the Arkansas Archeological Survey is inside the visitor center, where visitors can watch work in progress. The exhibit hall shows artifacts, and a theater tells the story of the site. The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday and on Sunday afternoons. A paved trail, picnic area and boat ramp are on the grounds.