Arkana is a former town that crossed the state lines between

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 ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

in the United States, although mostly lying in the latter state. In the 1890s, Arkana was described as a new railroad town, and was later the site of a rail station, lumber mill, church, post office, and school. The community was also the site of the Arkana and Eastern Railroad Company, a rail line which operated between Arkana and Springhill in the early 20th century.

Naming

Arkana was named "ark-" plus "-ana" from "Louisiana" and "Arkansas".

Geography

The community was at altitude and in the 1940s had a population of 50 people.

History

Early years

One of the early settlers of Arkana was Jackson Clark Byram, who established a homestead in 1848. He was the veteran of three wars and had a large family. Arkana was originally a rail station on the

Cotton Belt Route The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", was a Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Tennessee ...

(the St. Louis Southwestern Railway), a major railroad connecting the US states of

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 ...

, Arkansas,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, Louisiana, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. A

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

owned by the Arkana Lumber Company operated in Arkana until 1899, when it burned, at a loss of $45,000. This was one of several sawmill fires in Arkana; an earlier fire had occurred in 1892. By the 1890s, a history of northwestern Louisiana called Arkana "a new railroad town", and in 1912, the ''

Bossier City Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a total ...

Banner'' described Arkana as a "place and community". The population of Arkana was 12 in 1900.

20th century

A tract of 4,000 acres was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted for the Arkana townsite in 1915, with plans for small parcels to be sold to settlers. An ad for 100 town lots in Arkana ran in the '' Bossier Banner'' around that time. The Arkana townsite was developed by the Cotton Belt Land and Development Company, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Arkana was soon home to several stores, a church, and a post office. Arkana was also the site of the Arkana and Eastern Railroad Company, a short rail line which operated between the communities of Arkana and Springhill in the late 19th and early 20th century. The Burton Lumber Company operated a

lumber mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimens ...

in Arkana during the 1920s and 1930s. Portions of the Burton Mill caught fire on five occasions in 1922. Circa 1920, the community of Arkana was the site of the Arkana School. The population of Arkana in 1920 was 63. In April 1936, Louisiana Highway 10 (now Louisiana Highway 3) between Arkana and Plain Dealing was completed. It was reported that "Arkana will have a good road leading both north and south." Arkana's population in 1940 was 63. In 1952, ''The Plain Dealing Progress'' reported that the hard surface road between

Hope, Arkansas Hope is a city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, Hempstead County in southwestern Arkansas, United States. Hope is the county seat of Hempstead County and the principal city of the Hope Hope micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which in ...

, and Arkana had been extended. In 1980, it was reported that the Crystal Oil and Land Company was pumping over 2 million cubic feet of gas per day from a site southwest of what had become known as "the old Arkana townsite."

References

Sources

* * {{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Bossier Parish, Louisiana Unincorporated communities in Louisiana Unincorporated communities in Shreveport – Bossier City metropolitan area