Arthur E. Stilwell
Arthur E. Stilwell
On October 21, 1859, Arthur E. Stilwell was born in Rochester, New York. He left home at age fourteen. Later at age twenty, Stilwell had a job printing railroad timetables. Later in 1888, he founded the Kansas City Suburban Belt Railroad and then the Kansas City Terminal Railway. Eventually he became associated with the Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Gulf Railroad, later known as the Kansas City Southern Railroad (Sandy).
His dream was to use this company to connect Port Arthur, Texas with Kansas City, Kansas. Stilwell not only created his dream, but he also served as president of the company and over saw all the construction.
The first track was laid on August 18, 1890. When the railroad finally reached Mena, Arkansas, which was the midpoint in the construction, newspapers came from across the United States to document the railroad's success. Approximately one mile of track was being laid a day, which was a great advancement in those days. This publicity brought a lot of attention to the growing town of Mena. The last spike of the railroad was driven into the ground about twelve miles north of Beaumont, Texas on September 11, 1897 (Stilwell, 15).
Stilwell died of apoplexy on September 26, 1928 at the age of sixty-eight. During his life Stilwell built more than 2,300 miles of railroad and more than forty-five cities. Stilwell also wrote various books including Cannibals of Finance and Live and Grow Young (Arthur Stilwell: Founder).
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