Editing Augusta, Arkansas (section)

==History==
In 1848, Thomas Hough had the [[village]] of '''Chickasaw Crossing, Arkansas''', surveyed and laid out. The location was a natural [[riverboat]] landing spot on the navigable [[White River (Arkansas–Missouri)|White River]].<ref name=Woodruff>{{cite web|url= https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/woodruff-county-815/ |title=Woodruff County|publisher=Encyclopedia of Arkansas|accessdate=June 7, 2024}}</ref> In 1850, Hough renamed the settlement after his niece, Augusta Cald. [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]] on July 9, 1860, in [[Jackson County, Arkansas|Jackson County]], the town of Augusta became a part of Woodruff County when it was formed in the 1860s.<ref name=Augusta>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Barnett |first=Paula Harmon |date=October 15, 2024 |title=Augusta (Woodruff County) |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1017 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]] |location=Little Rock, Arkansas |publisher=[[Central Arkansas Library System|CALS]] |access-date=April 1, 2025}}</ref>

After the chaos of the [[American Civil War]] and its immediate aftermath, Augusta entered its greatest period of prosperity in the [[1870s]] as a year-round riverboat transport point for a wide variety of goods, serving vessels from as far away as [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] and [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]].<ref name=Augusta/> Thus, when railroads began entering the county in the late 1800s, Augusta opted out of the apparently-unnecessary innovation and allowed their town to be bypassed by the tracks.<ref name=Augusta/> When river traffic began to decline, the citizens realized their mistake, and decided to build their own railroad to link to the national rail grid.<ref name=Augusta/> What became the [[Augusta Railroad]] lasted from 1886 to 1958 or 1959.<ref name=Augusta/><ref name=ICC>{{cite web|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VM1DAAAAIAAJ |title= Augusta Railroad Company, Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States (Valuation Reports), April-June 1926, pp.756-766|date= 1926|publisher=Interstate Commerce Commission|accessdate=June 7, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.railroadcollectibles.com/augusta-railroad/ |title=Augusta Railroad Memorabilia Value Guide|publisher=Railroad Collectibles|accessdate=June 7, 2024}}</ref>