Dardanelle City Hall is located at 120 North Front Street, Dardanelle, AR 72834/
Phone: 479-229-4500.
The David Brearley family is synonymous with the establishment of Dardanelle [†], Arkansas. From circa 1815 through 1820 Colonel David Brearley spent most of his time in the territory of Arkansas, either at the Post of Arkansas or at Fort Smith. Some time between 1820 and 1822, Brearley operated a very successful mercantile business at Arkansas Post. In 2, President James Monroe offered Colonel Brearley the position of Indian Agent to the Cherokee. It was also Brearley who named the prominent rock outcropping overlooking the Arkansas River, Dardanelle Rock. By the 1820s, settlement of the area was imminent and the tension between the settlers and the Indians intensified. On 24 June 1823, a meeting or "pow-wow" was held at the council grounds under two twin Oaks on Brearley's property. In addition to Brearley, also in attendance was Robert Crittenden, Indian Agents, and Cherokee delegates including Blackfox. One of the two Oak trees is still standing and is located at the north end of Front Street and measures 19 feet and 4 inches in circumference. Some time after the 1823 meeting, David Brearley and his wife Hannah (Jones) bought a Spanish land grant from Joe Peran. This purchase made Colonel Brearley the largest landowner in the territory where he lived with his wife Elizabeth, with whom he'd had four children. It also gave him title to Dardanelle Rock. Brearley continued to serve as an agent to the Cherokees until 1824 when Monroe appointed him to "deal with" the Creeks and the Choctaws of the South, preparing them for removal to the West. During this period he traveled all over the south. David Brearley died in 1837 in Dardanelle.
† Kara Oosterhous, Consultant, and Ralph S. Wilcox, National Register & Survey Coordinator, Arkansas Preservation Program, Dardanelle Commercial Historic District, nomination document, 2008, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Neighborhoods
Nearby Towns: Russellville City •