Editing Mississippi County, Arkansas (section)

=== 1812 New Madrid Earthquake ===
{{Main|1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes}}

Local oral tradition held that prior to the major earthquakes of 1812, the lands in Mississippi County were higher in elevation compared to now and were not prone to flooding.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Presley |first=Leister E. |title=Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas |publisher=Goodspeed Publishing Company |year=1889 |location=Chicago, Nashville and St, Louis |pages=445}}</ref> Though the earthquake was named for New Madrid, Missouri, as that was the only town in the area with any population, the actual epicenter of the quake was three miles below what is now Blytheville, Arkansas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hendricks |first=Nancy |title=New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812 |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/new-madrid-earthquakes-of-1811-1812-2218/ |access-date=December 28, 2023 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref>