The Driftwood community of Lawrence County Arkansas, was a post-Civil War, historically Black community that has all but disappeared from history.
Located in the Morgan Township of Lawrence County on Highway 361 about four miles east of Strawberry Arkansas and about two and a half miles south of Lynn, Arkansas.
Driftwood was said to be occupied by as many as 50 African-American families, the majority of which came from the Sloan Plantation near Black Rock, post-civil war settling as tenant farmers in the area to be known as Driftwood.
These African-American tenant farmers worked along side White tenant farmers in the cotton fields along the Strawberry and Black River bottoms.
In daily life, racial conflicts seldomly arose, with the tenant farmers described as working the fields together in relative harmony.
Segregation in this time and area was strictly adhered to in housing, worship, general social activities, schools, and even burials.
African-Americans lived in the community of Driftwood, and the whites lived in the Riverview community and Lynn area.
The African-American cemetery located in the Driftwood area is known as Oaks Little Africa Cemetery, named for the Oaks family who lived nearby. The cemetery is located on private property and is said to contain an estimated 100-200 graves, mostly unmarked.
White tenant farmers from the Driftwood and Riverview area were said to be buried in the Dry Creek cemetery located to the north between Driftwood and Lynn (a.k.a. Pleasant Hill Cemetery).
Some of the earliest identified African-American settlers of the Driftwood community were the Cravens family, Steadman family, Hunt family, Raney family, McCarroll family, Sutton family, Oaks family, Smith family, and Taylor family. Members of these families most of which are believed to be buried in the Oaks Little Africa Cemetery.
Baseball, labeled as America’s Pastime was popular in the time of the Driftwood community and Driftwood was noted for its skilled baseball team. Other notable activities in the community included the Annual July 4th picnic at Driftwood attended by both whites and blacks, which included a dance on an outdoor dance floor.
Driftwood had businesses and a General Store, mostly owned by white landowners. In April 1905 the Driftwood community received a US Post Office, Samuel Pleasant Goodwin, a prominent landowner and merchant was appointed the 1st postmaster.
Driftwood contained segregated schools, the Driftwood School for black students and the Penn School located at Riverview for white students. The Driftwood school building was used as a church on Sundays for the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The Driftwood name is said to have derived from the African-American farmers who “drifted” into the community. The Driftwood community was described to be similar to a commune. Residents regularly swapped labor instead of money, once the community also bought a Model T Ford for everyone to use.
The Great Depression was said to be the beginning of the end for the Driftwood community. Residents moved away seeking employment in larger cities, the Post Office was closed by 1935. Driftwood is now an abandoned community, the families of this once thriving establishment blended into other surrounding communities after the Great Depression.
Few things still exist today except memories of the community and a few marked graves.
The name Driftwood still exist in the area, the Lynn branch of the Lawrence County Library is named the Driftwood Branch after this once vibrant community.