Wilson established a logging operation and sawmill, leveraging the hardwoods of Mississippi County and the Mississippi River for transportation.
Imagine hardwood forests covering the entire county and abundant wild game roaming the forests. Robert E. Lee Wilson came to Mississippi County when steam engines were crossing the USA. Wood houses were in construction at a rapid pace in St. Louis and Chicago. Osceola, known as Plum Point at that time, was a hub of trade because steamboats docked at the high ground of Plum Point, which never flooded as was common in those days for the Mississippi River.
Wilson established a logging operation and sawmill, leveraging the hardwoods of Mississippi County and the Mississippi River for transportation.
In 1910, tree stumps were literally blown out of the ground to cultivate land for cotton. The heyday of 1920 cotton prices inspired cotton farming throughout the Delta region. Between 1932 and 1960, Mississippi County held title to the largest Cotton Producing County in America. International Harvester tested and innovated mechanical cotton picking in Mississippi County in the late 1940s. Cotton farm labor became displaced yet transferred into industrial plants. Osceola sought fabric and clothing manufacturing to add-value to raw cotton. The Crompton-Shenandoah Corduroy Plant was the big “recruitment win” of the era, operating until 1985. The economy was humming with workforce in great demand. Interestingly, women worked in manufacturing while men typically farmed.
Meanwhile, Blytheville become home to a new Air Force Base (Eaker Air Force Base) and Strategic Command, growing Blytheville’s population to the third largest city in Arkansas.
The decades of the 1970s and 1980s, agriculture and manufacturing were running at full capacity. By 1990, manufacturing operations were moving off-shore. Industry was disappearing from Mississippi County at an astonishing pace. The Great River Economic Foundation was founded as a 501(c)3 to aggressively recruit industry county-wide. Mississippi County was soon in the mix for many significant industrial projects – some won, some lost. All in all, learned a lot and inspired an Economic Development Fund generated by a sales tax increment.
The Economic Development Fund, along with unique assets of industrial sites on the Mississippi River, barge service and connection to other transportation modes, competitively-priced electricity, the ability to draw industrially-skilled workers from throughout Mississippi County and across multiple states (Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee), reveals a very “sweet spot” for American-made steel and value-added steel products. Proximity to the vast range of customers– auto manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, construction, agriculture - makes Mississippi County appealing too.
The steel industry accounts for over 5500 jobs in Mississippi County and continues to grow
In 1987 Nucor-formed a joint venture with Yamato Kogyo, launching a steel-production global dynasty. Big River Steel also chose Mississippi County, beginning operations in 2017, and just completing Phase Two expansion in 2020. Over $2 Billion in capital investment has been made by these two steel roll manufacturers alone in Mississippi County. We are the source of the majority of American-made steel. Steel product manufacturers are growing in Mississippi County for speed raw material acquisition. The steel industry accounts for over 5500 jobs in Mississippi County and continues to grow.
Today people drive north and south on I-55, enjoying the green farmland, possibly unaware of the world-renowned industry off the road to the East and along the Mississippi River. Mississippi County has been known historically for cotton glory and now the secret’s out about its global status in the steel industry.