Arkansas Highway 59 is a north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

Northwest Arkansas Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is a metropolitan area and region in Arkansas within the Ozarks. It includes four of the ten largest cities in the state: Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers, ...

. The route runs from

Arkansas Highway 22 Arkansas Highway 22 (AR 22) is an east–west List of state highways in Arkansas, state highway in the Arkansas River Valley. The route runs from U.S. Route 64 in Arkansas, US 64 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Fort Smith east to Arkansas Highway ...

in Barling north to the

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

state line through Van Buren, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Crawford County. Highway 59 parallels

US 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south U.S. highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. Highway System, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA Corridor Highway System. It par ...

(in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

) between

Siloam Springs Siloam Springs is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, Benton County, Arkansas, United States, and located on the western edge of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers metropolitan area, Northwest Arkansas metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Unite ...

and Fort Smith.

Route description

The route begins in Barling at AR 22. The route runs north to enter Van Buren, crossing I-540 and briefly

concurring In law, a concurring opinion is in certain legal systems a written opinion by one or more judges of a court which agrees with the decision made by the majority of the court, but states different (or additional) reasons as the basis for their deci ...

with

US 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,281 miles (3,672 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route ...

. The concurrency begins near the Joseph Starr Dunham House and before crossing

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

. The route exits town northbound, intersecting rural highways AR 162 and AR 220 in Cedarville and crossing Lee Creek on the historic Lee Creek Bridge. At this time, AR 59 is running through the

Boston Mountains The Boston Mountains is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Part of the Ozarks, the Boston Mountains are a deeply dissected plateau. The ecoregion is steepe ...

subdivision of

The Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

. North of Cedarville, AR 59 curves west toward

, coming within of the border. Entering Washington County, the route meets

Arkansas Highway 156 Highway 156 (AR 156, Ark. 156, and Hwy. 156) is a designation for three east–west state highways in Washington County, Arkansas. The first segment was created in 1937, with two more created in 1973. All are minor state highways established to ...

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

and AR 244 in Tolu. The route continues north to Dutch Mills and

Summers Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

before entering

. Upon entering Benton County, AR 59 concurs with

US 412 U.S. Route 412 is an east–west United States highway, first commissioned in 1982. U.S. 412 overlaps expressway-grade Cimarron Turnpike from Tulsa west to Interstate 35 and the Cherokee Turnpike from east of Chouteau, Oklahoma, to west of th ...

east around the southeast edge of Siloam Springs. The concurrency ends and AR 59 continues north to

Gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

. AR 59 passes near Kansas City-Southern Railway cars and Kansas City-Southern Depot in Decatur. The route continues north to AR 72 and the Kansas City Southern Railway Caboose No. 383 in Gravette. The highway runs further north to Wee Pine Knot, the Adar House, and Butler Creek Cemetery in Sulphur Springs. AR 59 meets

Missouri Route 59 Route 59 is a highway in southwest Missouri running from the Arkansas state line north to Interstate 44 in Missouri, I-44/Interstate 49 in Missouri, I-49 at Fidelity, Missouri, Fidelity. It replaced a large section of U.S. Route 71 and U.S. R ...

at the

state line and terminates.

History

When Arkansas established its first numbered state highway system in 1926, Arkansas Highway 59 was designated for a route that led from the

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

state line to Eudora. The

South Arkansas South Arkansas lies within the southernmost portions of Arkansas Gulf Coastal Plain and Delta regions. It encompasses the lower 15 counties of the state. History In the 1920s, nationwide attention focused on South Arkansas when the Smackover Fi ...

route later became AR 159, and the 59 number moved to

northwest Arkansas Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is a metropolitan area and region in Arkansas within the Ozarks. It includes four of the ten largest cities in the state: Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers, ...

. In 1936, AR 59 traveled from Van Buren north to

. From AR 72 at Gravette, north to the Missouri state line, AR 59 is the original alignment of US 71. The roadway continues north into

. The route was widened by the

AHTD The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT), formerly the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, is a government department in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Its mission is to provide a safe, efficient, aesthetically pleasing and env ...

in 2007 around Siloam Springs."Annual Report - 2007". ATHD
Publication.
Retrieved on March 2, 2009.

Major intersections

Special routes

AR 59 has two

special route In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the Inte ...

s, both in

Gentry business route

Arkansas Highway 59 Business is a

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route that branches off a parent numbered highway at its beginning, continues through the central business district of a nearby city or to ...

Gentry spur

Arkansas Highway 59 Spur is a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A Bypass route, bypass or beltway is not considered a spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the ...

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Arkansas Highway 59 059 Transportation in Sebastian County, Arkansas Transportation in Crawford County, Arkansas Transportation in Washington County, Arkansas Transportation in Benton County, Arkansas U.S. Route 71 Siloam Springs, Arkansas