Marche
Marche (pronounced "Mar-Shay") is a community located in Pulaski County twelve miles north of Little Rock, Arkansas. The community began as a rural post office stop on the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad.
The town, originally called Warren, was settled by Poles. The name was changed to reduce confusion with a Bradley County town of same name. The population of Marche in 1892 was about 37 people. The postmaster at the time was Miss S. Choinski. A vinegar factory operated here under E. W. Choinski and a general store under Miss Helen Choinski.
White Oak Bayou
Marche is situated inside the forty-two square mile White Oak Bayou watershed, comprising fourteen hundred acres of wetland in Pulaski County. The bayou originates withing the boundaries of Camp Robinson. The White Oak Bayou empties into the Arkansas River at Burns Park. Natural areas in the watershed are characterized by mixed forest. Trees found in the forest include blackjack oak, bur oak, cherry bark oak, green ash, loblolly pine, overcup oak, post oak, shagbark hickory, short leaf pine, southern red oak, and willow oak. The bayou is populated with bald cypress and water tupelo.
References
- Arkansas History Commission & State Archives, Map Archive #230 & #231.
- Arkansas State Gazetteer and Business Directory (Chicago, IL: R.L. Polk Company, 1892).
- Arkansas State Highway Commission in Cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Public Roads, General Highways and Transportation Maps, Pulaski County, Arkansas, Pyeatte and Worthen Townships, 1936.
- Harry S. Ashmore, Arkansas: A History (New York: Norton Press, 1984), 115-116.
- Ernie Deane, "European Settlers Helped Build Arkansas," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 9, 1961.
- Margaret Smith Ross, "Squatters Rights, Part II. Crystal Hill – Maumelle – Palarm: Settlers Prior to 1814," Pulaski County Historical Review 4 (September 1956): 33-50.
- Beverly Watkins, "Efforts to Encourage Immigration to Arkansas, 1865–1874," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 38 (Spring 1979): 32–62.
