The year of 1882 was a historic one for Greene County. In that year, two railroads built their lines into the county and crossed at a point where a town would be built. One was the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad, later to be known as the Missouri Pacific. This railroad was headed by the famous railroad magnate Jay Gould, who already controlled some 5000 miles of track in Arkansas and the Southwest. The other railroad was the Texas and St. Louis, later called the Cotton Belt. This was a narrow-gauge line with J. W Paramore as president. This line originated in Texas and was originally built to ship Texas cotton to the compresses in St. Louis by direct line. The crossing of the two railroads was not just a chance crossing, but one of Gould's tactics to cut the business of the fledgling road.
Learn more about the City of Paragould on the History page.