Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad

As background, the town of Rogers was founded as a stop on the line of a St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (Frisco) predecessor.[1] That line, on which the first train arrived in Rogers on May 10, 1881, bypassed the county seat of Bentonville, Arkansas.[1] So in 1883, a corporation called the Bentonville Railroad Company proceeded to link Rogers with Bentonville, about six miles.[2][3]

Within that framework, the Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad Company (A&OR) was incorporated April 1, 1898, under the laws of Arkansas.[4] On November 17, 1900, the A&OR purchased the Bentonville Railroad line between Rogers and Bentonville.[3] The A&OR also built, between 1898 and 1900, about 41 miles of track northwesterly from Bentonville through the town of Gravette, Arkansas-- where it crossed the tracks of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad, later absorbed by the Kansas City Southern Railway—[5] and on to Grove, then in Indian Territory.[3][6] This gave the railroad a mainline between Rogers and Grove of about 47 miles of standard gauge single track.[3]

The line did handle some passenger traffic.[5] However, it was particularly important for the transportation of fruit products, particularly apples, facilitating growth of the Ozark fruit industry.[2][5]

This line was sold on June 21, 1901, to the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company.[4] That entity in turn was sold to the Frisco under foreclosure on September 15, 1916.[4] In subsequent history, the Bentonville-to-Grove route was abandoned September 9, 1940.[4][2] However, the spur between Rogers and Bentonville remains active.[2]