This railway, known as the Frisco for shorthand, had general offices at St. Louis, Missouri, and built a network of rail lines across parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, including a line that ran from Monette, Missouri, southwest through Fayetteville to Fort Smith and reaching Paris, Texas, when completed. This line became known as the Central Division.
The first unscheduled train to reach Fayetteville arrived on July 4, 1881, to a large celebration near the crossing of present-day North Street.
A year later, the first regularly scheduled train arrived.
Although an early depot was built near the North Street crossing, a permanent depot was soon erected farther south at 514 W. Dickson.
Frisco ran both freight trains and passenger trains from 1882 to 1965, when the company abandoned passenger service altogether.
A decade and a half later, Frisco merged with Burlington Northern in 1980. The consolidation of the rail industry cast a long shadow over the section of rail between Monett, Mo., and Fort Smith.
In 1986, Burlington Northern leased the section to the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad, which based its operations in Springdale. The A&M later purchased the line and continues to operate daily freight trains and weekly excursion trains on the original Frisco route.