St. Francis Scenic Byway
Marianna, AR

Marianna, one of the oldest towns in the Arkansas Delta, was founded in 1820 by settlers from Alabama and named for Mary Ann Harland, who donated the property for the town. It was incorporated in 1870 and became the county seat when Lee County was formed in 1873.

A downtown walking tour features a beautiful town square, with a Classic Revival style courthouse anchoring the north end, and a park with a gazebo and a General Robert E. Lee Monument in the center. Marianna's commercial district recently joined numerous other structures in the city on the National Historic Register.

The city also includes the Lee County Museum, the state-of-the-art McClendon-Mann-Felton Cotton Gin, and the University of Arkansas Cotton Branch Experiment Station and Soil Testing Lab. Marianna is the home of Rodney Slater, Federal Highway Administrator and later Secretary of Transportation, during the administration of President Bill Clinton (1992-2000).