Category: Lake Village Chamber of Commerce

Jul212010July 21, 2010November 22, 2016by itswebteam

Remembering the Old Bridge; Getting Ready for the New

Posted in bridge, ferry, Greenville, Lake Village Chamber of Commerce
Alvin, Katie & Mary Jane Ford on Greenville Bridge, ca. 1952. Photo found behind Dining Room Mantel at Lakeport
This post is a companion to today’s Southern Fried Blog, where Rex Nelson looks back at the old Greenville Bridge. The old bridge is slated for demolition later this year, since no one has offered to relocate it.

Greenville-Lake Village Bridge postcard, ca. 1955.
As the bridge opened in 1940, the Delta Democrat-Times (Greenville, MS) reported the ferry operation of the Greenville Bridge & Ferry Co. was transporting “200 to 300 cars, plus trucks and busses” each day.
Delta Democrat-Times, September 15, 1940
“Visit Beautiful Lake Village Over the Free Bridge,” Delta Democrat-Times, October 29, 1950
As the new Bridge opens, Lake Village would like to welcome visitors again. Come see Paul Michaels, the Cow Pen, Lake Chicot, Lakeshore Cafe, Rhoda, and Lakeport Plantation.

The new bridge will be dedicated at 10 am on Monday, July 26 and will open to traffic on Wednesday, July 28. Lakeport will be open Saturday, July 31. I’ll post more about our Saturday hours tomorrow.

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Jan292010January 29, 2010November 19, 2014by itswebteam

Lakeport Plantation to Host Author Susan Young

Posted in book signing, event, immigration, Italians, Lake Village Chamber of Commerce, Sunnyside, Tontitown

From Sunnyside to Tontitown:
Author Talk and Book Signing with Susan Young

Saturday, February 27, 2010 • 1:00 p.m.
Chicot County’s Italian history comes down from
the hills and back to the Delta with author Susan
Young’s discussion of her new book, So Big, This
Little Place: The Founding of Tontitown, Arkansas,
1898-1917, at Lakeport Plantation, Sat. Feb. 27.
• 1:00 p.m. Tour of Lakeport Plantation Home
• 2:00 p.m. Author Talk – Susan Young w/ book
signing to follow
In 1895, 100 Italian families came to Chicot
County’s Sunnyside Plantation from Genoa, Italy
to make a new life. Three years later, 40 families
left the harsh conditions of the plantation and
founded Tontitown in the Ozark Mountains.
Young’s book is richly illustrated and contains a
newly compiled genealogical register.
All are welcome to this free event.


The Lakeport Plantation is one of Arkansas’s premier historic structures. The house, constructed ca. 1859, is the only remaining Arkansas plantation home on the Mississippi River. Lakeport’s mission is to research and interpret the people and cultures that shaped plantation life in the Mississippi River Delta, focusing on the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods.


The plantation was donated to Arkansas State University in 2001 by the Sam Epstein Angel family. After more than five years of restoration, the plantation opened as a museum and educational center in September 2007. Arkansas State University’s Arkansas Heritage SITES Program operates two other heritage sites: the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott and the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum in Tyronza.

Lakeport Plantation • 601 Highway 142 • Lake Village • AR • 870-265-6031 • lakeport.astate.edu

Apr172009April 17, 2009November 19, 2014by itswebteam

Ribbon Cutting a Success!

Posted in bees, Lake Village Chamber of Commerce, ribbon cutting


A crowd of supporters came to Lakport last night to honor Lakeport’s membership in the Lake Village Chamber of Commerce.  The chamber and its executive director, Lisa Raby, works hard to support business and tourism in Lake Village–“One of the Delta’s best kept secrets.”  We know Lakeport benefits from their support.

The event was a great success: O’dourves were served on the front porch and beverages were served on the north side porch; a crowd of well-wishers gathered to support Lakeport (and eat); and, most importantly, the scissors cut the ribbon with the greatest of ease.
Even though the evening was a success, a swarm of bees in the early afternoon plotted to sabotage the event.  Lucky for us, registered beekeeper, John C. Hatfield, was able to come from Star City to remove swarm.  The bees were gone by 4:45–just in time to finish setting up.