Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad

The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad was a regional carrier from 1906 to 1946, which at its peak strength joined Joplin in southwestern, Missouri with Helena in Phillips County in eastern Arkansas.

Few railroads experienced more misfortunes than the M&NA: storms, economic difficulties, labor problems, rough topography, and numerous fires. Ultimately, the company failed because Its service territory could not produce the revenue essential to the support of the railroad. The M&NA faced regional competition from two routes of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Poor rail construction led to infrastructure failures during times of flooding. The M&NA was initially launched as a connection from Seligman in Barry County in southwestern Missouri, located on the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, popularly known as the "Frisco".

In 1883, Powell Clayton, who served as governor of Arkansas from 1868 to 1871, became the chief promoter of another railroad, the Eureka Springs Railway, which serviced the resort community of Eureka Springs in Carroll County in northwestern Arkansas. As earnings for the Eureka Springs Railway proved insufficient, interest focused on servicing the zinc and lead mines of north central Arkansas. In 1899, the Eureka Springs Railway was merged into another line, the St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad. This new company brought service to Harrison in Boone County in 1901 and Leslie in Searcy County in 1903. It planned to link to the capital city of Little Rock in Pulaski County along what became U.S. Route 65. In 1906, the railroad underwent reorganization, and the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad Company emerged as a result.

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