Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Banker expanded Bentonville Railroad; aided apple industry
Editor’s note: “The Arkansas and Oklahoma Railway Co. heads toward Gravette and beyond” is a continuation from last month’s article on the Bentonville Railroad Company.
In 1898, a banker by the name of John Bayless from Washburn, Mo., showed interest in taking over the Bentonville Railroad line. He had previously completed a short rail line in Southern Missouri. He thought the Bentonville Railroad line could be expanded from Bentonville to Gravette and beyond into Indian Territory.
The people who lived between Rogers and Gravette were excited to have another outlet other than the Frisco line, feeling that with competition they could get better rates for shipping their products. This line would also support the large agricultural area that lay between Rogers and Bentonville.
Plans were to meet up with the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (later called the Kansas City Southern) in Gravette. Mr. Bayless had meetings to raise interest in his new proposed railroad, which he planned to name the Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad. Money was raised in both Rogers and Bentonville to help build the new rail line. A big celebration took place when all the funds had been raised. In the same year, Bayless took over control of the railroad. He promised that the line from Bentonville to Gravette would be completed in ten months.
To agree to build this railroad, Rogers had to raise subsidies of $20,000, along with providing grounds for a depot and railyard. There was some opposition to the amount, but in the end Rogers raised the subsidies needed. In Bentonville subsidies of $25,000 were required to be raised, along with right of way through town, free depot and 10 miles of right of way, being from 66 to 100 feet wide. An agreement was made to purchase the Bentonville Railroad Co. for $22,500.
In May of 1898, the new railway was incorporated for $200,000, with the main stockholders in the company being John Bayless and Rogers banker W. R. Felker.
Mr. Bayless got right to work rebuilding the old line between Bentonville and Rogers, putting down 25,000 new oak railroad ties. He also replaced the old rail line with a much better rail, which would accommodate the new engine for the line.
The old depot located at the southwest corner of the Bentonville square was abandoned for a new two-story depot at the location where the old depot in Bentonville sits today. Along with all this, train service was much improved between the two cities.
By June of 1898, the railroad bed was graded halfway to Gravett (Gravette had no “e” in its name at this time). By November that year, the railway had met up with the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf line in Gravett(e), as Mr. Bayless had promised.
The line ran from Rogers through Bentonville, then it continued on to Seba. From there it
made a northern turn and went through a little community called Rice (later changed to Centerton), then continued on to Hiwasse. From Hiwasse the line continued on to Gravette.
The length of the line from Rogers to Gravett(e) was a distance of 41 miles. About a year after reaching Gravette, the line was extended to Beaty. In 1899 the line had been extended to Southwest City, Mo. By September of that year the line had reached the area around Grove, Okla.
In 1900 a new line was added to Grove, Okla. (Indian Territory). This line did have passenger service, but it was especially important in transporting fruit products like apples, peaches and strawberries to market.
This rail line helped in the growth of the apple industry in Benton County. One year it was said that Centerton shipped more apples than any other city in the United States. The Ozark Construction Company built the railway line at a cost of $8,000 a mile.
One of the local citizens called the A&O the “All off and Walk” because of its inability to run on time.
In September of 1900, it was announced that Mr. Bayless was putting the Arkansas & Oklahoma railroad up for sale. To make the railway line more appealing to buyers, he proposed all the various places to which the railway line could be extended. It is believed that this caught the attention of the Frisco Railroad, which had interest in some of these proposed areas.
In November of 1900, the Frisco line made a generous offer of $357,000 to John Bayless and William Felker, who were the major stockholders of the rail line. These two gentlemen profited greatly from this sale. The transfer to the Frisco railroad took place in June 1901.
Mr. Randy McCrory is part of a group called Vintage Bentonville. The group hosts an online museum for Bentonville/Benton County at vintagebentonville.com. They also host two Facebook pages called Historic Benton County and Vintage Bentonville.