Old Wire Road

The Old Wire Road was a historic road in Missouri and Arkansas. Several local roads are still known by this name. It followed an old Native American route, the Great Osage Trail across the Ozarks, and later a telegraph line along this route from St. Louis, Missouri, to Fort Smith, Arkansas. This route was also used by the Butterfield Overland Mail. It was known simply as the "Wire Road" while the telegraph line was up, but when the line was later removed, it became known as the "Old Wire Road".

The road begins at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, where it is called Telegraph Road. From St. Louis to Springfield, Missouri, it was originally designated Route 14, which later became U.S. Route 66 and still later Interstate 44. At Springfield, the road turned southwest and passed through what is now Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. From there it meandered southwest through Christian and Stone counties in Missouri towards the Arkansas state line. It passed near Pea Ridge, Arkansas and through Fayetteville on its way to Fort Smith, Arkansas. The route was used for the Trail of Tears and during the Civil War, when Confederate soldiers often cut the telegraph line.