History of Lonoke...

Lonoke received its name from Major Rombaugh, a civil engineer who surveyed the Memphis and Little Rock railroad right-of-way, along with a Mr. Robinson. They had a contract with the railroad for locating the depot. The name was suggested from a lone oak tree which stood isolated on the prairie west of this point. He spelled the word as he thought, to give it an Indian sound of Lo-no-kah.

Lonoke is located near the geographical center of Lonoke County, and is approximately twenty-two miles east of Little Rock, Arkansas. The original site was surveyed and laid out in 1869.

The people of Lonoke started a town where there had not even been a community or settlement, and within three years made it the county seat of a new county. The population, in three years from 1869 to 1872 had increased from zero to almost 500 people. By 1910 the population had grown to 1,547.

By 1879, the need for free, public education became apparent. To supplement meager state funds set aside for this purpose, the citizens of Lonoke privately subscribed a total of $10,000 which, added to the state funds, enabled them to inaugurate a free, ten-month public school.
During a span of forty-one years, from 1869-1910, Lonoke grew from a landmark, a lone oak, located between two prairies, to a thriving county seat and agricultural center which had made itself an influence in state affairs. This period saw the establishment of the two-crop era in agriculture - cotton and rice - which was to transform the prairie lands into some of the most valuable farm real estate in the state, as well as in the nation.