McNeil Overpass

The McNeil Overpass, located on U.S. Highway 79 over the Union Pacific rail line east of McNeil (Columbia County), was constructed in 1936–1937 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 13, 2021. This overpass represents a period in U.S. history that saw major efforts nationally to increase road construction, as well as to improve safety for drivers traveling those roads.

Starting in the 1920s, automobile ownership in the United States steadily increased almost every year, prompting the need for more, better, and safer roads. Some of the main highways connecting Magnolia (Columbia County) to other towns did not even exist until the 1920s. Highway 79 South to Haynesville, Louisiana, was not completed until 1922. The construction of Highway 371 did not start until after 1927. Even then, most roads, streets, and highways in the area were not paved until the 1930s. The Magnolia Courthouse Square was not paved until 1930.

Once roads were paved, the inevitable result was faster speeds, which also raised safety concerns, especially regarding points where roadways crossed rail lines. To answer the growing need, in 1913, the Arkansas General Assembly created the Arkansas State Highway Commission. In 1918, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Public Roads was created to help coordinate road improvements at the state and national levels. The Bureau of Public Roads was originally part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the late 1930s, it was absorbed into the U.S. Federal Works Agency (1939–1949). In 1949, it became part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and then, in 1967, its functions became part of the newly formed U.S. Department of Transportation.

An early highway map of Arkansas from 1916 shows a road from Magnolia through McNeil that proceeded northeast to Stephens (Ouachita County) and Camden (Ouachita County). About 1924, this highway was designated Highway B-7, a secondary Federal Aid Road. It was named Arkansas Highway 3 by 1926, but it retained the federal designation of B-7 until 1936, at which time it became part of U.S. Highway 79. The original route of the highway followed Mulberry Street north from Broadway Street in McNeil, then proceeded east along Front Street.

As a result, the highway crossed two sides of the Y in the rail line where the Magnolia branch line joined the main rail line. Those crossings were located less than 400 feet apart. As such, an overpass was deemed necessary to prevent multiple rail line crossings in the heart of the town of McNeil. It was also needed to adhere to regulations of both the Arkansas State Highway Commission and the Federal Bureau of Public Roads to eliminate dangerous rail crossings. The overpass eliminated those two crossings, leading to safer travel along Highway 79. The year 1936 saw the peak of railroad overpass construction by the Bureau of Public Roads all over the United States.

Construction of the overpass was partially funded by the federal government. Contractor John William Hecker of Camden submitted a proposal to the Arkansas State Highway Commission for the overpass project on July 16, 1936. He was awarded the construction contract for State Job No. 7204 (Federal Aid Project No. WPGM 127) for a total project cost of $49,717, which included concrete pavement approaches. Construction started later in 1936 and continued into 1937.

The McNeil Overpass is a multi-span, reinforced-concrete deck girder bridge. It is 302.21 feet long and thirty feet wide, spanning the former St. Louis-Southwestern (Cotton Belt) railroad line (now Union Pacific). The bridge has a total of seven spans supported by cast-concrete piers and rests on cast-concrete abutments. The bridge guardrails have evenly spaced cast-concrete uprights connected by inset panels of shallow arch-shaped openings. The guardrails have solid concrete ends at the northeastern and southwestern end points.

The bridge and highway were first paved during construction as part of the overall area highway project. In 2025, the section of Highway 79 that this overpass supports was repaved, but the McNeil Overpass was not altered or damaged in the process. Commemorative metal plaques set into the ends of the guardrails read: “ST. L. S. W. RY. / J.W. HECKER / CONTRACTOR / 1936.”

Railroad overpasses in Arkansas that were built with the assistance of the Bureau of Public Roads in 1936 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places include the Hillsboro Viaduct in El Dorado (Union County), the Russellville West Overpass, the Rock Island Overpass in El Dorado, the Locust Street Overpass in North Little Rock (Pulaski County), the Maple Street Overpass in Fayetteville (Washington County), the Bridge Street Bridge in Jonesboro (Craighead County), the overpass in Rison (Cleveland County), the Old Highway 16 Bridge in Edgemont (Cleburne County), and the Batesville Overpass.

For additional information:
“Black Top Road is Opened on No. 1.” Hope Star, August 18, 1930, p. 1.

“Completion of Highway at Magnolia Announced.” Hope Star, February 13, 1931, p. 1.

“Location Fixed for Arkansas Highway.” Shreveport Times, October 2, 1927, p. 3.

“McNeil Overpass.” National Register of Historic Places registration form. On file at Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Little Rock, Arkansas. Online at https://www.arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-historic-preservation-program (accessed August 28, 2026).

“Part of Paving Work at Magnolia Finished, Hope Star, May 2, 1930, p. 1.

“Road Comes to Arkansas.” Arkansas Democrat, July 9, 1922, p. 17.

Wilcox, Ralph. “Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: Bureau of Public Roads Railroad Overpasses.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 80 (Autumn 2021): 375–381.

Mike Gee
South Arkansas Heritage Museum