Cardwell is a city in southwest Dunklin County, Missouri, United States.

The community was named after Frank Cardwell, an Arkansas banker who lent money to the town's founders.

[7] By November 1894, the line had been graded to the new townsite and it was being advertised in local papers that plotts were being sold.

[8] On January 19, 1895, the first train was reported to have arrived in Cardwell, and platting continued into the following year by the Bertig family of Paragould, AR, and a post office was established soon after.

[13] In 1902, the Paragould and Memphis Railroad, a "tap line" built a link between Cardwell and Manila, AR.

[15] Cardwell is situated in the southwestern corner of Missouri's Bootheel, with the Missouri-Arkansas state line lying both to the west and south.

Missouri Route 164 traverses Cardwell, connecting the city with Arbyrd and Hornersville to the east.

[16] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.63 square miles (1.63 km2), all land.

[17] Cardwell experiences a humid subtropical climate, with hot summers and generally cold winters.