Streets of Pea Ridge

Editor's Note: The following is from Billie Jines' 1996 booklet, "The Streets of Pea Ridge." It has been updated to include new streets and those scheduled for future development. It is continued from previous columns, the latest which ran Feb. 25.

Union, continued

Union soldiers honored on names of north-south streets

Ford Street -- In Ridgemoor Estates. Turn right (east) off of Hayden Road (State Hwy. 265) onto McNair Street and take the second street to the left. Honors Private August Ford, Co. A, 37th Illinois. He was wounded at Pea Ridge.

Hall Place -- Is a north-south street off of Hall Drive. It honors George W. Hall, who was a private in Co. A of Phelps Regiment from Southwestern Missouri. Hall was wounded at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Several honorees of Pea Ridge streets were the Phelps' Regiment. There is an interesting story regarding him and his wife. Col. Phelps' wife came down the Old Wire Road from Springfield to visit her husband. He and other Union forces were dug in up on the hill above Little Sugar Creek at Brightwater. They had expected the Confederates had circled and were coming from the North. Mrs. Phelps got here all right but the road behind her was filling up with enemy troops. She could not go back home. According to the Shea and Hess book, she just went to work tending the wounded as the Battle of Pea Ridge got underway. Her husband was one of those who was wounded in the battle.

Halleck Lane -- Turns south off of Slack Street (State Hwy. 72) at the Pea Ridge city limits. This street honors a man who was not here at the Battle of Pea Ridge in person, but who was very important in the battle. He was the commander of General Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Union forces at the battle. Gen. Halleck had come only as far as the railhead at Rolla, Mo., but since the Telegraph or Wire Road came right through the battlefield, the two generals were in touch by telegrams. Gen. Halleck had been to West Point with such others as William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, Braxton Bragg, etc. He held important titles during the Civil War, and at one time, was giving orders to Gen. Grant.

Hayden Road -- Leaves West Pickens Road as State Hwy. 265, makes two turns before reaching the Pea Ridge City Park, and heads northward through various curves before reaching the Missouri state line. Hayden honors Capt. Mortimer M. Hayden of the 3rd Iowa Battery in the 2nd Brigade of Carr's 4th Division. This street/road is about three and a third miles long from West Pickens to the state line.

• Hoffman Street -- Take Patton Street from North Curtis and go west. It will end at a corner where Hoffman begins and goes northward. Its name honors a private with the 15th Missouri Volunteers named John Hoffman.

• Jenks Court -- Take Carden Road off of S. Curtis Avenue, to Jenks Court turning right off of Carden a short distance along the way. Very early records may show this street called Buttry. It was changed in 1968 by one of the developers since no Union participant by that name was located. Jenks honors John C. Jenks of the 18th Indiana Infantry.

• Jones Lane -- Turns left off of West Pickens (Arkansas Hwy. 94) on up the hill above Greene Street and leads to Greene Street after it curves westward. Honors the 1st Iowa Battery's Capt. J.A. Jones.

• Klauss Lane -- At the east edge of the Pea Ridge School campus on West Pickens Road, this street turns northward and leads past one long drive to a residence and to two other residences. The name honors Capt. Martin Klauss of the 1st Indiana Battery, light artillery.

• Lyon Street -- One block long street that connects Price and Hays streets, both of which can be entered from Carr Street. Price Street goes all the way to North Curtis Avenue, but not Hays Street. Lyon honors the Union's Lt. James J. Lyon, according to the original naming committee in 1959. It is important to know that Lyon Street does not honor Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, a better known soldier with that name. He had been killed the August before the Battle of Pea Ridge while participating in the Battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Mo.

• Mary Phelps Drive -- Located in the Givens Place development, which was added in 1996. The only Pea Ridge street that honors a woman. She came down the Old Wire Road from Springfield, Mo., to visit her husband, Col. John S. Phelps, just before the battle began. Unable to return home, she "appointed herself medical supervisor, nurse, quartermaster and commissary for the embattled 4th Division and worked day and night to help the wounded," according to the Shea and Hess book.

• McNair Place -- Turns north off of McNair Street. Named for Col. Evander McNair, since no Union participant was located.

• Miller Drive -- Located in the Givens Place development, which was added in 1996. Honors George Miller of Co. A, 12th Missouri Infantry.

• Montgomery Circle -- Off Ark. Hwy. 94, then west off of Wakefield Drive, part of the Givens Place development, which was added in 1996. Honors Sgt. John W. Montgomery, who was killed at the Battle of Pea Ridge. He served with Co. D, 3rd Iowa Cavalry.

• Patterson Road -- Turns north off of East Pickens Road (Ark. Hwy. 72) midway between downtown area and east city limits. Goes all the way to the Missouri line, where State Line Road connects it to Hayden Road (Ark. Hwy. 265) to the west. Named by Charles Hardy. Honors William Patterson, Co. D, Phelps Regiment of Springfield, Mo.

• Poten Spur, North, and Poten Spur, South -- Actually one street but designated North and South at the place at which Earle Lane connected it to Halleck Lane. Located in the Medlin Subdivision east of Halleck Lane. This street honors Maj. August H. Poten, commander of the 17th Missouri in the Union's 1st and 2nd Divisions under Brig. Gen. Franz Sigel.

• Reed Street -- Leaves West Pickens Road as the last street to the right before reaching Hayden Road (Ark. Hwy. 265). It starts eastward as it cuts behind a residence, then turns north. It passes two houses on the right, but it passes the back of several houses, which actually are on the next street (Park Circle) facing west. Reed turns right and ends beside a residence. It honors Private William Reed, who served with the First Flying Battery led by Capt. Gustavus M. Elbert. This was the "MS Horse Artillery." Reed was killed at this battle.

• Ryan Road -- Turns left (south) off of Slack Street (Ark. Hwy. 72) between Curtis Avenue and the Church of the Nazarene. This is a part of "the old highway" that later was replaced by Ark. Hwy. 94. Ryan is inside the city limits for a distance, then becomes the city limits a ways and finally is a county road. It honors Samuel Ryan, a private in Davidson's Batt., 2nd Illinois Light Artillery. By coincidence, perhaps, the Union commander at Pea Ridge was Gen. Samuel Ryan Curtis.

• Sigel Street -- Located in the Givens Place development, which was added in 1996. Honors Brig. Gen. Franz Sigel, one of three Union generals at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Gen. Sigel was an 1843 graduate of the Karlsruhe Military Academy, who had taken part in the unsuccessful revolutionary movements in Germany in 1849. He fled to the United States, and was director of the St. Louis public schools before the Civil War.

• Smith Street -- Starts on Lee Town Road, the first street turning north. Goes past Tinnin Street and ends at a residence facing Smith Street. Honors Zimry Smith of Co. G, Phelps Regiment from Springfield, Mo., area. Smith was reported missing at the Battle of Pea Ridge.

• Webb Street -- The first street off of McNair Street in Ridgemoor Estates. It honors Private Sebastian Webb of the Benton Fussars, who were with the 5th Missouri Cavalry serving under Col. Joseph Nemett. They were said to have been mostly Germans.

Editorial on 06/10/2015