The town was militarily important during the American Civil War, and was where General M. Jeff Thompson formally surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Arkansas to Union forces in 1865.

[5] The formation of a park began when the Jackson County Historical Society purchased the derelict courthouse for restoration in 1961.

The area became a state park on June 5, 1965, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on January 21, 1970.

[7] This restoration "brought the steamboat as close to her actual operating appearance as possible," including shelves stocked with canned goods and tables set for dinner.

Police investigators fingered two men who had visited the site of the museum ship that night and had left footprints in the snow.