In 1833, a commission appointed for the purpose of choosing a site for the county seat of Ripley County selected a site one-half mile west and across Current River from the present location of Van Buren. They named the new county seat Van Buren after the then Vice President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. A courthouse was built and a small city grew up around it. The city had one small general merchandise store run by a man named Shaw and a water powered grist mill owned by John George.