Page "Atkins, Arkansas" Paragraph 7

Following the Civil War, Arkansas underwent a brief period of industrialization as capitalists, mostly from the North, took advantage of the opportunities to foster commercial growth in the devastated Southern states.

One of these ventures was the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad.

As the surveyed route followed the northern side of the Arkansas River from Little Rock toward points westward, funds ran out at Perry Station ( Pope County ), which was about four miles west of present-day Blackwell ( Conway County ).

A Boston, Massachusetts, businessman named Elisha Atkins invested enough money to continue construction in 1872 ; a town was platted at the next major crossroads and christened Atkins.