Ashport is situated on the Mississippi River, sixteen miles west from Ripley, in the Fifth District, was founded in 1836 by John W. Campbell, Joseph Jones, William Connor and Matthew Pickett, they owning, jointly, 5,000 acres of land, 200 of which were laid off into lots, of which about 50 were sold in 1838. The first merchants were Campbell and Harrolson, in 1838. Then followed Patton & Taylor, a Jackson firm, and John Duncan. Capt. William Tichnor is the present merchant. From 1839 to 1847 Ashport gradually washed into the Mississippi. In the latter year a sand bank appeared before the town, which checked the washing until its disappearance in 1850, when it began again. All of the original 200 acres of lots have washed into the river. The population at present is about 100.