City Of Gosnell, Arkansas

The Gosnell region was surrounded by water in its early days. It is bordered on the west by Big Lake, which in the days before the automobile and railroads
was used as a boat transportation route linking the settlement to the larger cities of Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. Landowners along Big Lake took
advantage of a thriving commercial hunting and fishing business. Pelts and packed fish co

uld be shipped to market along the lake or by the two bayous to the
Mississippi River. To the east of the settlement is the Pemiscot Bayou. The road from Blytheville passed the Indian mound and store before traveling across
the Pemiscot Bayou. Families with land along the Pemiscot traveled in boats into the Lumerate Bayou, which ran through Blytheville’s business district. The
road to Gosnell came to be called the Pole Road. When stretches of the road became bad, the community would turn out to cut logs to place across the mud
of the road, making it passable again. Because the land was sparsely settled, it was of little concern to either side during the Civil War. All of Mississippi
County had fewer than 4,000 residents at this time. Men from the area joined Confederate units from other parts of Arkansas. Aside from a few Union raids
from Missouri, the county did not suffer much from the war. Much of the land between Blytheville and Big Lake was purchased in the late 1800s by
Lemael Gosnell, a dentist and pioneer farmer. In time, the community came to be named for him. Gosnell was incorporated as a first-class city on March
12, 1968. Gosnell’s first mayor after incorporation was Andy Bevill. Since then, Gosnell has had only three mayors: Carl Ledbetter, Dick Reams and
currently Don Marshall.[