Editing Mena, Arkansas (section)

==History==
[[File:Mena, Arkansas -1907.jpg|thumb|Mena, 1907]]
[[File:Mountain Fork Bridge.jpg|thumb|upright|The Mountain Fork Bridge, eleven miles southwest of Mena, is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Polk County, Arkansas|National Register of Historic Places]].]]
[[File:Railroad Depot, Mena, Arkansas.jpg|thumb|Depot in Mena]]

Mena was founded by [[Arthur Edward Stilwell]] during the building of the [[Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad]] (now the [[Kansas City Southern Railway|Kansas City Southern]]), which stretched from [[Kansas City, Missouri]], to [[Port Arthur, Texas]]. Train service to Mena began in 1896.

Stilwell named the town in honor of Folmina Margaretha Janssen-De Goeijen, the wife of his friend and financier Jan [[De Queen, Arkansas|De Goeijen]], whom Mr. De Goeijen affectionately called Mena. [[Janssen Park]] in the center of Mena is also named for her.

Mena was settled in 1896 and incorporated on September 18 of that year. In 1897, the Bank of Mena was founded. The following year, the county seat was moved from nearby [[Dallas, Arkansas|Dallas]] to Mena. Mena's population had grown to 3,423 by 1900. The main industries of the area were timber, agriculture and mineral extraction, though it was advertised as a spa city located within a healthy environment. Stilwell donated land to the city in 1906, and a park and campground were constructed. In 1910, the railroad moved its shop facilities from Mena to [[Heavener, Oklahoma|Heavener]], [[Oklahoma]]. This created a loss of eight hundred jobs. A private school in Mena, Hendrix Academy, closed in 1905.

There were attempts to intimidate early Black settlers into leaving between 1896 and 1898. In 1901, an African-American man accused of kicking a White girl, was removed from the jail, beaten, and hanged. Local citizens posted a reward for the murderers; there were no arrests.<ref name="Berryman">{{Cite web |title=Peter Berryman (Lynching of) |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/peter-berryman-8495/ |access-date=February 9, 2023 |archive-date=February 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209232135/https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/peter-berryman-8495/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Berryman JandT">{{Cite news |date=February 21, 1901 |title=Eight masked men lynch a negro at Mena, Arkansas for maltreating a little girl |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118317794/eight-masked-men-lynch-a-negro-at-mena/ |access-date=February 9, 2023 |publisher=Journal and Tribune |location=Knoxville, Tennessee}}</ref> In the mid-1920s, the town advertised that it had no Negroes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sundown Town Illustrations |url=https://justice.tougaloo.edu/sundown-towns/sundown-towns-illustrations/ |access-date=February 9, 2023 |website=History and Social Justice |publisher=Tougaloo College |archive-date=February 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209234147/https://justice.tougaloo.edu/sundown-towns/sundown-towns-illustrations/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In the early 1900s, the Black population declined, and Mena became known as a [[sundown town]]. In 1920, the ''Mena Star'' advertised the city as 100 percent White.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/media/polk-county-%c2%93negro%c2%94-dies-8449/ |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1911, a damaging [[tornado]] struck the town.<ref name="Lancaster">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Mena (Polk County) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=959 |last=Lancaster |first=Guy |date=2012 |quote=In 1988, the White House blocked an investigation into the activities at the Mena airport, but on November 8, 1996, the CIA acknowledged running 'a joint training operation with another federal agency' at the airport |access-date=July 19, 2013 |archive-date=June 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609031520/http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=959 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Recent history===
In the 1950s, a government program to stockpile [[manganese]] led to the reopening of local mines closed since the 1890s. The program ended in 1959, and the mines again closed.<ref name="Lancaster" />

During the 1980s, drug smuggler [[Barry Seal]] moved his operations to the [[Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport]], where he owned and operated many planes and helicopters, as well as advanced radar equipment. Seal also flew gun and drug smuggling missions between Mena and Nicaragua as part of a [[Iran–Contra affair|CIA scheme]] to support the [[Contras]]. Local law enforcement claimed that attempts to investigate the operation were blocked by the White House.<ref name="Lancaster" />

On April 9, 2009, a large and violent [[April 2009 tornado outbreak|tornado]] devastated the town, killing three and injuring thirty.<ref name="AP">{{Cite news |date=January 23, 2008 |title=Tornado Devastates Small Arkansas Town, Killing 3 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/8449156 |access-date=May 20, 2013 |publisher=[[Associated Press]] via [[The Guardian]] |location=London |archive-date=September 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240903061419/https://www.theguardian.com/info/2015/dec/09/removed-news-agency-feed-article |url-status=live }}</ref> Many homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. The [[Arkansas National Guard]] was deployed to the affected area.<ref name="AP" /> The tornado was rated as a high-end [[Enhanced Fujita Scale|EF]]3, with winds near {{convert|165|mi/h|abbr=on}}, and damages estimated at $25 million.

Mena is the eastern end of the [[Talimena Scenic Drive]], a route that extends to [[Talihina, Oklahoma]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.talimenadrive.com/ |title =Talimena National Scenic Byway|publisher=Talimena Scenic Drive Association|accessdate=April 20, 2025}}</ref>