Editing Batesville, Arkansas (section)

== History ==
Batesville is the second oldest municipality after the town of [[Georgetown, Arkansas|Georgetown]] — and the oldest city — in the state of Arkansas. It was named for the first territorial delegate from Arkansas to the [[Congress of the United States]], [[James Woodson Bates]], who settled in the town. The town has also gone by the names of Napoleon and Poke Bayou.

In early days, Batesville was an important port on the [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]] and served as an entry point to the interior of northern Arkansas.  Batesville played a large role in the settling of the [[Ozark Mountains]] region and served as the central land office for northern Arkansas.

The first known settlement of the Batesville area was in 1810 near the mouth of [[Polk Bayou]], and by 1819 the town had a ferry across the White River and about a dozen houses. The town was partially laid out in early 1821, and on March 3, 1822, a bill of assurance was recorded and executed and the town's plat was laid out. Batesville became the county seat in 1821. In January 1822, Judge Richard Searcy opened the town's first state circuit court. The town's first [[Post Office|post office]] was established in 1822, and in 1830 became the home of a county court. On September 25, 1836, shortly after Arkansas was granted its statehood, [[James Sevier Conway|Governor Conway]] incorporated Batesville Academy, the state's first academy. In the past, the area in and around the city had extensive quarries of [[manganese]] ore, [[phosphate]] rock, [[sandstone]], [[limestone]], and [[marble]].

Between 1940 and 1941, Batesville had its own minor league baseball team within the [[Northeast Arkansas League]] known as the [[Batesville Pilots]]. The team later disbanded in 1941.

On July 31, 1964, singer [[Jim Reeves]] and his business partner and manager Dean Manuel left Batesville, en route to [[Nashville]] in a single-engine Beechcraft Debonair aircraft, N8972M, with Reeves at the controls.<ref name=NTSB>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=79493&key=0 |title=M8972M |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |access-date=August 8, 2019}}</ref> It crashed later that day near [[Nashville International Airport]] killing both on board.

Batesville currently has only one high school within the city limits, [[Batesville High School (Arkansas)|Batesville High School]]. Also, Batesville is the home of [[Lyon College]], a private liberal arts college affiliated with the [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)]], and noted for the annual Arkansas Scottish Festival each fall. In addition, the city is home to the [[University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville]] (UACCB), and [[NASCAR]] driver [[Mark Martin]]. It contains three National Register Historic Districts and many properties separately listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. It was listed in Norman Crampton's 1992 book ''The 100 Best Small Towns in America'', ranking at #75.