In this 1918 blueprint of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway (Frisco) route, a small pond is shown that was known as Rochier’s Pond. Just above is the Prairie Grove Road, which is now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The blank area north of it is the present-day site of Fayetteville High School.
Rochier’s Pond was fed by a spring near the present-day intersection of Buchanan Avenue and Duncan Avenue on the north side of MLK Boulevard. Remnants of the pond, which had slowly filled but still retained water after heavy rains, could still be seen as late as 2020, but have been covered over with fill since then.
The railroad right of way running from upper left to the lower side is the mainline of the Frisco, now operated as the Missouri & Arkansas Railroad. The right of way running horizontal across the blueprint was owned by the Frisco as well but operated as the Ozark & Cherokee Central Railroad. It ran from Fayetteville to Okmulgee, Okla. The section seen on this map is now part of the Tsa-La-Gi multi-use trail.
The subdivision on the lower left of the blueprint covers the hillside known as Rochier Heights, now crowned by an apartment complex known as the Vu.
The blueprint was created by the Office of Valuation Engineer for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Co. at its St. Louis, Mo., office.
It should read Arkansas & Missouri Railroad as the current operator.