100 Dewey Street
Manila, Arkansas
870-561-3501
The Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad (JLC&E) was a short line railroad that operated in Mississippi and Craighead Counties of northeast Arkansas. The railroad received a charter from the State of Arkansas in 1897, and track construction between Jonesboro and Blytheville began shortly thereafter. The initial reason to construct the JLC&E came from timber owners and land speculators in northeast Arkansas, all of whom saw the availability of railroad transportation as a necessary ingredient to harvesting timber. By the time the railroad was completed in the summer of 1901, several large sawmills were either in operation or being built along the tracks.
This wood-frame depot in Manila was built in 1910. The Chicago Mill & Lumber Company, which owned and operated a large mill in Blytheville, built narrow gauge lines all over Big Land Island and Buffalo Island on which logs were loaded, carried to Manila, taken to the Manila stave mill, reloaded on regular gauge tracks of the JLC&E to be carried to the Blytheville mill of Chicago Mill & Lumber Company.
In early 1911, the JLC&E was purchased by R.E. Lee Wilson a prominent landowner who resided in Wilson, Arkansas. During the 1910s the timber industry began to decline and Wilson responded by encouraging farmers to settle on cut-over lands that border tracks of the JLC&E. Cotton prices in the 1910s caused prosperity in the region but this was short lived when cotton prices plunged in the 1920s and there was increased competition from freight trucks on newly built highways. In 1925 the JLC&E was sold to the St. Louis & Frisco (Frisco) Railroad. The Frisco Railroad operated in Manila until into the 1970s. The Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad depot in Manila was listed in the National Historic Register in 1997.
The Manila Depot Committee, with the support of the city of Manila, had the building renovated to its original state and turned it into a museum housing antique items and memorabilia for future generations to view.
Visiting the Manila Museum
Saturdays: 10 am - 1 pm
There is no charge to visit the Manila Museum, although donations are welcome.
