Wiville, Arkansas

Wiville is a populated place in Woodruff County, Arkansas,[1] about 8 miles south of McCrory, 11 miles southeast of Augusta, and 9 miles north of Cotton Plant.[2][3] It is located along Arkansas Highway 17.[3]

History

At one time the location, then known as Coats, Arkansas, became a transportation crossroads.[4][5][6] The Batesville and Brinkley Railroad built through around 1882.[7] Sometime later, a railroad called the Augusta and Southeastern Railway built a 6-mile connecting line out of Coats to Gregory, Arkansas on its west.[8][9] When the Batesville and Brinkley became the White and Black River Valley Railway in 1890, it bought the Augusta and Southeastern and kept operating both lines.[8][10] The town became known as Wiville sometime between 1894 and 1898,[10][11] purportedly because the community had become so famous for being the location of the "Y" branch in the railroad line.[12] By 1904, the line was operated under lease by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway (“Rock Island”).[8][13] The line remained a separate part of the Rock Island until abandoned in pieces, with Wiville to Gregory done in 1934, and the remaining Brinkley to Newport portion through Wiville done in 1941.[14][15]

As of 2000, the locale was an agricultural area for cotton, rice, soybeans, wheat and fish.[12] It had about 10 residents and 4 houses.[12]

References
  1. "Wiville". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  2. "Wiville, Arkansas". RoadsideThoughts. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  3. "Wiville, Arkansas". Google Maps. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  4. ”Timetable,” Batesville and Brinkley Railroad, 1884
  5. ”Timetable,” Batesville and Brinkley Railroad, 1889
  6. ”Timetable,” Augusta and Southeastern Railway, 1889
  7. "Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company". Mid-Continent. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  8. "White and Black River Valley Railway". Interstate Commerce Commission, January–March 1929, pp. 848-851; 1062-1066. 1929. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  9. "Weldon and the White and Black River Valley Railroad". ArkansasRoadsides. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  10. ”Timetable,” White and Black River Valley Railway, 1894
  11. ”Timetable,” White and Black River Valley Railway, 1898
  12. "Peaceful town of Wiville in Woodruff County is home to "hidden" river". Arkansas Democrat Gazette, August 2000 (accessed on ARGenWeb). Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  13. ”Timetable 35, White and Black River Section, and Timetable 36, Augusta Branch,” Rock Island Lines, 1911
  14. "Rock Island Line Abandonments – Arkansas" (PDF). Arkansas Railroader, August 1985. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  15. "Weldon (Jackson County)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved October 6, 2022.

35°08′53″N 91°14′27″W

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