The History Of Texarkana

How old is Texarkana? And do you know how it got its name?

I’m sure many of you know Texarkana as the bustling city it is now, with freeways intersecting at nearly every angle. But how many of you know how it began? To learn that, we’re going to have to wind back the clock to the late 1850s.

It all started with railroads. The Cairo and Fulton railroad company had been pushing its lines across Arkansas, hoping to open trade to the west. By 1874, they had crossed the Red River and expanded their business into Texas. Between February 16 and March 19, 1874, Cairo and Fulton made their business by ferrying people and cargo across the Red River, where they would continue into Texas by rail. On March 20, 1874, the Red River bridge was opened and trains were able to run directly from what would be Texarkana, to St. Louis.

Cairo and Fulton weren’t the only ones interested in building a railroad to the west, however. The Texas and Pacific company also had a line stretching from Arkansas to Texas, and seeing how the Cairo and Fulton line was directly on the border between the two states, both companies deemed it logical to have their lines connect. This led to the Texas and Pacific company selling the first lots to build a town on December 8, 1873.

J.W. Davis was the first person to buy, and today’s Hotel McCartney marks the first inhabited land in Texarkana. It wasn’t Davis who gave the town its name though. While we don’t have any evidence as to who gave the town its name, most people say it was Colonel Gus Knobel who surveyed the Iron Mountain railroad from Little Rock, to Texarkana, to the state line. The story goes that he painted the words TEX-ARK-ANA on a sign, which he then nailed to a tree saying,

“This is the name of the town which is to be built here.”