Arkansas Highway 59 NORTH OF U S 62
NO POST OFFICE
Cincinnati was known as Silvia and Buzzard Roost in its early
years but assumed the name of Cincinnati in 1857 possibly because of
a nearby creek by that name.The first post office there was called Silvia
in 1838. The post office closed in 1911 and mail diverted to Summers
just to the South. The area was settled in the 1830s to early 1840s.
Farms in the area used sizable numbers of slaves.
Goodspeed in 1889 called it "one of the best inland towns in the
county" situated in the "center of a rich grain and livestock region".
Businesses in 1890 included wagon and farm implement makers, merchants
and millers of grain, as well as buying and selling of cattle, sheep,
hogs and mules. There were five general stores, blacksmith shops,
tanneries, harness shops, an undertaker, a hotel and livery stable.
In addition the village had two churches, an academy school, a Masonic
Lodge, two physicians, one druggist and one dentist. Gatewood reports
the business transacted that year amounted to about $225,000. By 1900,
the Cincinnati Argus weekly newspaper had started. A local telephone
company operated from the early 1900's to 1940's when Prairie Grove
telephone service was extended into the area.
Buzzard Roost,then Silvia was so advanced commercially in the early years,
that people from Fayetteville came by wagon to Silvia and Cane Hill for
supplies before commerce developed in Fayetteville. At the peak of the
town's growth, there were two mills in operation within a mile and half
of the business area. One was southeast of the town in a valley called
Rag Hollow, so named because a man named May was often seen wearing ragged
clothes while he built the mill. This mill was operated by Dave Moore.
The other mill was called the Silvia Mill and was northeast of the town.
One of the largest general stores was operated by William H Rhea. Rhea
won a large sum of money gambling and opened a store in the Wedington
community several miles north of Cincinnati, and eventually he bought
out a mill just north of Cincinnati. That mill became the site of a
small town called Rhea's Mill.
One of the Cherokee contingents on the Trail of Tears stopped overnight
at the Thomason farm just southeast of Cincinnati. Thomason had settled
on this farm in 1832.This group of Cherokees was lead by Richard Taylor
and accompanied by Dr William I I Morrow who kept a journal of the trip
and mentions stopping at Col. Thomason's on March 22, 1839. They left
the next day and arrived at their destination in Indian Territory only
eight miles from Cincinnati.
Trade in Cincinnati was brisk with Cherokees following their arrival
so close by, as it was in Evansville, Cane Hill and other towns in
The Prairie Grove Valley and Its Communities by Willard Gatewood
Flashback Winter 2003
History of Washington County by Shiloh Museum 1989
Buzzard Roost - Silvia - Cincinnati by Tom Feathers Flashback Nov. 1951
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