Information about Van Buren, AR and the small, locally-owned businesses located there.

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A little about Van Buren

Van Buren has become a shopping mecca for hard-to-find collectibles, one-of-a-kind gifts, original art, local Ozark crafts, home decor and extraordinary antiques. Six blocks of art galleries, antique shops, restaurants and historical attractions located along a beautifully restored Victorian Main Street comprise the popular Van Buren Downtown Historic District. Entertainment offerings include excursion train rides, theater productions at the King Opera House and special annual events. The Butterfield Overland Mail Co. Stagecoach route ran through Van Buren, where the stagecoaches were moved across the Arkansas River on flatboats. Van Buren was a popular stop for steamboats coming upstream. These passageways are now part of the Arkansas Heritage Trails System.

The history of Van Buren

The area was settled by David Boyd and Thomas Martin in the year 1818. After Arkansas became a territory in 1819 Daniel and Thomas Phillips constructed a lumber yard in the community to serve as a fuel depot for river traffic. In the year 1831 a post office was constructed for the community, at the time known as Phillips Landing. This post office was named after the newly appointed Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren. John Drennen along with his partner, David Thompson, purchased the area for US$11,000. They moved their business of supplying firewood for steamboats to this new location on higher ground. The courthouse was constructed on a lot of land donated by Drennen on the condition that Van Buren become the county seat. The Drennen Reserve is one of the town's existing historical sites from the 1830s. Van Buren was first incorporated December 24, 1842.

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