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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 ”Timetable,” White and Black River Valley Railway, 1894
  11. ↑ ”Timetable,” White and Black River Valley Railway, 1898
  12. 1 2 3 "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 / 35.14806°N 91.24083°W / 35.14806; -91.24083

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