Wiville is a populated place in Woodruff County, Arkansas, [1] about 8 miles south of McCrory, 11 miles southeast of Augusta, and 9 miles north of Cotton Plant. [2] [3] It is located along Arkansas Highway 17. [3]
At one time the location, then known as Coats, Arkansas, became a transportation crossroads. [4] [5] [6] The Batesville and Brinkley Railroad built through around 1882. [7] Sometime later, a railroad called the Augusta and Southeastern Railway built a 6-mile connecting line out of Coats to Gregory, Arkansas, on its west. [8] [9] When the Batesville and Brinkley became the White and Black River Valley Railway in 1890, it bought the Augusta and Southeastern and kept operating both lines. [8] [10] The town became known as Wiville sometime between 1894 and 1898, [10] [11] purportedly because the community had become so famous for being the location of the "Y" branch in the railroad line. [12] By 1904, the line was operated under lease by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway ("Rock Island"). [8] [13] The line remained a separate part of the Rock Island until abandoned in pieces, with Wiville to Gregory done in 1934, and the remaining Brinkley to Newport portion through Wiville done in 1941. [14] [15]
As of 2000, the locale was an agricultural area for cotton, rice, soybeans, wheat and fish. [12] It had about 10 residents and 4 houses. [12]