Corner of AR-18 (E. Fleeman Street) and Baltimore Street
Manila, Arkansas

Herman Davis State Park in northeast Arkansas honors Private Herman Davis, a native of Manila who is considered one of the top heroes of World War I. The one-acre park surrounds a monument to Davis. Davis distinguished himself with unusual feats of bravery on more than one occasion during the time he served in World War I. He was listed fourth on U.S. General John J. Pershing’s list of the100 greatest heroes of World War I and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de Guerre, and the Medaille Militaire by the American and French governments. Soon after Davis died in a Memphis hospital on January 5, 1923, two campaigns were launched to raise funds for memorials at his gravesite in Manila and at the Old State House in Little Rock.

The Mississippi County fund drive raised $5,000 for the monument in Manila, where the city had donated a site. The monument is an imposing twenty-five-foot-tall Barre granite obelisk with a life-sized statue of Davis made from Italian marble resting at its base. John C. McHaney Jr. of Blytheville and Kennett, Missouri, was awarded the stonework contract, and a marble statue of Davis was ordered from artists in Carrara, Italy. The project was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1925, which Governor Thomas Jefferson Terral proclaimed as Herman Davis Memorial Day in Arkansas. The Davis’ remains were moved from a nearby cemetery to the base of the new memorial. The original statue, vandalized in 1967, was replaced with a duplicate using the same type of granite used in the shaft and base of the monument. The memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.In 1999, the memorial site received new landscaping, off-street parking areas, sidewalks, and park benches. It is fully accessible to all visitors.

Visiting Village Creek State Park
Open daily from dawn to dusk
Visitor Center: Daily from 8 am - 5 pm
There is no charge to visit the Village Creek State Park.