Edmondson

Edmondson is a town just off the Great River Road National Scenic Byway, located 10miles west of West Memphis and about three miles south of Interstate 40. Prior to the Civil War, the area was being cleared for cotton plantations, and the settlement was named for Andrew Edmondson, who arrived from Virginia in the 1840s and died in 1852. His family remained, and a post office bearing their name was established in 1859. After increases in settlers, the Edmondson area was described as a “terrible canebrake full of bear, panther, wolves, possum, and squirrel.”

The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad reached Edmondson in 1868, and a depot was built at the settlement. African American railroad workers, lumbermen, and farmers built houses by the depot, and provided leadership for the growth and development of Edmondson. The town was incorporated in 1911 and, according to local historians, town officials have always been African American. 

Visitors from around the world stop in Edmondson to pay tribute at the gravesite of Albert King. King was a master blues guitarist, considered one of the most influential ever, and was famous for playing a Gibson Flying-V guitar. His grave marker includes an image of the Flying-V.