Sherwood is a city in Pulaski County in central Arkansas just north of North Little Rock. In 1990, Sherwood was named the fastest-growing town in Arkansas, in terms of both population and area, as it has annexed land many times over the years. In 1820 Benjamin Kellogg, a blacksmith and farmer, brought his family from Pennsylvania to settle in the area known today as Sylvan Hills. Around 1840, while Kellogg was out farming, he found what he thought might be silver on his land along the creek, later named Kellogg Creek. After confirmation from the Arkansas Geological Commission of both silver and lead, Thomas Newton, President of the Southwest Arkansas Mining Company, leased Kellogg’s land and began mining operations. In 1848, Newton shipped tons of silver down the Mississippi River to the Port of New Orleans where it was shipped to Wales and the United Kingdom. Documents indicate operations in this period yielded up to 500 tons of lead-silver concentrate, valued at close to $50,000. The Kellogg Mine included Arkansas’s deepest mine shaft, which extended down more than a thousand feet below the surface. Thomas Newton used his earnings to develop the town of Argenta. Now North Little Rock, Argenta was named for the silver mines, as “argentum” is Latin for silver. In 1861 Newton’s mining operation was shut down as the Civil War began and Confederate troops took over the mines, using the lead to make bullets. In September 1863, the Union forces took over the Kellogg mines and destroyed the Confederate’s operations. One year after the Civil War, mining operations again resumed at the Kellogg Mines. In 1926 the Kellogg mines were permanently closed (Brown, 2015). That same year, Justin Matthews, a prominent central Arkansas real estate developer, began laying out a subdivision in the Sylvan Hills area. Several homes were built in the subdivision, including the homes of Matthew’s mother and mother-in-law on Miller Road. Families and businesses continued to come to the area and on April 22, 1948, Sherwood was officially incorporated as a town. In 1976, Sherwood annexed the Sylvan Hills community. In 1990, Sherwood was named the fastest-growing town in Arkansas, in terms of both population and area, as it has annexed land many times over the years (Teske, 2019).
Citation
Brown, Darrell W. (2015). History of Sherwood. Retrieved from cityofsherwood.net .
Teske, Anastasia. (2019, Feb. 20). Sherwood (Pulaski County). Retrieved from encyclopediaofarkansas. net.
How it all Began 