Arkansas & Oklahoma Railroad

Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad. Gravette. The Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad, owned by John Bayless and William Felker, was the train route west from Bentonville to Gravette from 1898 to 1900. Besides transporting passengers, this route played a major role in the growth of the Ozark fruit industry, particularly apples, by providing shipment to markets across the country. In November 1900, the line was sold to the Frisco Railway and the route extended from Gravette to Grove, Oklahoma (then Indian Territory) and renamed the Bentonville Branch. This branch line included stops at nine depots, as well as the Rogers mainline depot. The line also crossed the tracks of the Kansas City Southern (originally known at the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf) in Gravette. , Reverse , This made the small town of Gravette the location of two railroad stations, although little freight was exchanged. The Benton County fruit industry, which was the main economic driver for the railroad, peaked around 1919 but then steadily declined due to pests, late frosts, low prices and fruit tree rust infestations. The Frisco did little to maintain the line and by the late 1930s the revenue losses were too great to ignore. Service on the tracks west of Bentonville ended September 9, 1940, bringing an official close to the heyday of the Benton County apple industry. Although the railway has mostly disappeared from the landscape, this section of raised rail bed has been reconstructed as a historical representation of the Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad once located at this site.