In the 1890s, Arkana was described as a new railroad town, and was later the site of a rail station, lumber mill, church, post office, and school.

[5] Arkana was originally a rail station on the Cotton Belt Route (the St. Louis Southwestern Railway),[6] a major railroad connecting the US states of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas.

A tract of 4,000 acres was platted for the Arkana townsite in 1915, with plans for small parcels to be sold to settlers.

[24] In 1952, The Plain Dealing Progress reported that the hard surface road between Hope, Arkansas, and Arkana had been extended.

[25] In 1980, it was reported that the Crystal Oil and Land Company was pumping over 2 million cubic feet of gas per day from a site 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southwest of what had become known as "the old Arkana townsite.