Highway 22 (AR 22, Ark. 22, and Hwy. 22) is an east–west

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the

Arkansas River Valley The Arkansas River Valley (usually shortened to River Valley) is a region in Arkansas defined by the Arkansas River in the western part of the state. Generally defined as the area between the The Ozarks, Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, the River V ...

. It is maintained by the

Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), formerly the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, is a government department in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Its mission is to provide a safe, efficient, aesthetically pleasing and en ...

(AHTD). The highway runs from US 64/ US 71B east to Highway 7 in Dardanelle. Following the historic

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

line of the cross-country Butterfield Trail, the highway is one of the original 1926 state highways. It is designated by the AHTD as the '
True Grit Trail
''.

Route description

The route begins in Fort Smith at US 64/ US 71B. It runs east, crossing I-540/ US 71 and the incomplete interchange at the northern end of future I-49. From its western terminus in Fort Smith it carries the

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

route of the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

to AR 255 where the historic route follows AR 255 heading north. From the junction with AR 255, AR 22 concurs with AR 255 through

Fort Chaffee Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center is an Army National Guard installation in western Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Fort Smith. Established as Camp Chaffee in 1941, renamed to Fort Chaffee in 1956, Fort Chaffee has served as a United ...

and intersects AR 96 east of the installation. The route next enters Charleston where it meets AR 217 and the historic Butterfield Trail. The historic route continues along AR 22 to its eastern terminus in Dardanelle. Continuing east into

Branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

the highway crosses AR 41.

County Line High School County Line High School is a comprehensive high school in Branch, Arkansas located along the Franklin County and Logan County border. Established in 1950, school supports students in grades 7 through 12 and is administered by the County Line Sc ...

is located on the highway between Branch and

Ratcliff Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames between Limehouse (to the east), and Shadwell (to the west). The place name is no longer commonly used. History Etymolog ...

In the town of Caulksville AR 22 has a junction with AR 23. Continuing east into the city of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

the highway has junctions with AR 109, AR 288, and AR 309. AR 22/AR 109/AR 288 run together until Subiaco, when the route loses AR 288 but crosses AR 197. AR 109 leaves AR 22 in Midway, heading north towards Clarksville. AR 22 continues alone to Dardanelle, passing through the communities of New Blaine and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

along the way. In Dardanelle, the route terminates at AR 7 after a very brief concurrency with AR 155. The road itself is fairly straight and in reasonably good repair. Passing can be safely accomplished in several stretches of Highway 22 despite a lack of constructed passing areas.

History

The precursor to today's AR 22 was the Butterfield Trail, a

trail officially known as the Overland Mail Company that traveled roughly along the present-day highway's route from Dardanelle to Fort Smith. The stagecoach carried mail and passengers from

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

to Fort Smith. In Fort Smith the trail split into two routes, with one traveling west to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and the other traveling north to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. The Butterfield Trail was in operation from 1858 to 1861. Upon its establishment, AR 22 was one of the original 1926 Arkansas state highways. AR 22 ran from Fort Smith to Dardanelle along a routing very similar to the modern-day routing of AR 22. On July 14, 2015 the highway was linked to Future I-49 in Barling. In June 2019 a proposal was made under the Connecting Arkansas Program-2 for US$25 million to be allocated to the improvement of sections of AR 22 between Fort Smith and Charleston. On March 20 of the same year, the highway was officially designated by the AHTD as the True Grit Trail. The name comes from the 1968 novel, ''

True Grit True Grit may refer to: Fiction * ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis ** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne ** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...

'' by Charles Portis. Frank Ross, father of the protagonist Mattie Ross, travels along Highway 22 from Dardanelle to Fort Smith.

National Register of Historic Places

Three original segments of Highway 22 remain intact and are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The New Blaine segment was listed in 2003, the Barling segment was listed in May 2007, and the Yell County segment was listed in 2008. All three listings are contained within the ''Arkansas Highway History and Architecture Multiple Property Submission'', which preserves history from Arkansas's highway building era between 1910 and 1965.

Barling

The Old Arkansas 22, Barling Segment is a historic section of roadway in

Barling, Arkansas Barling is a city in Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 Census the population was 4,782, ranking it eighth in the Greater Fort Smith Area. Barl ...

. Now named Mayo Drive, it consists of a stretch of concrete pavement, two lanes wide, in the northwestern part of the city. It extends north from the current alignment of Highway 22 until it reaches a sharp curve, where the pavement narrows significantly, before continuing westward to rejoin the highway. This stretch of pavement was constructed in 1928 by the Koss Construction Company, and is longest section of surviving pavement of the early alignment of Highway 22.

New Blaine

Old Arkansas Highway 22 is a historic roadway section in

New Blaine, Arkansas New Blaine is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Logan County, Arkansas, Logan County, Arkansas, United States. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 173. The followi ...

. It consists of an S-shaped section asphalt, in length, built in 1930 by Cook & Ransom and the Schultz Construction Company to carry Highway 22. This section was bypassed by the present alignment in the 1960s. It is now designated as part of

Arkansas Highway 197 Arkansas Highway 197 (AR 197, Ark. 197, and Hwy. 197) is the designation for a state highway in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The route is split into three sections, all of which are located in western Arkansas. The first and longest section beg ...

, the AR 197 Loop, and Rainbow Loop, and continues to provide the primary access to the town center.

Yell County

One surviving element of the original alignment survives in Yell County west of Dardanelle; it consists of County Road 906 (CR 906), a stretch of concrete pavement wide. This segment was listed on the

in 2008.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Arkansas Highway 22 022 Transportation in Sebastian County, Arkansas Transportation in Franklin County, Arkansas Transportation in Logan County, Arkansas Transportation in Yell County, Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Logan County, Arkansas Buildings and structures completed in 1929 Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Buildings and structures completed in 1928 Buildings and structures in Sebastian County, Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Sebastian County, Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Yell County, Arkansas