Arlington

Overview

Where the river roads met

Arlington sits just above the point where Little Piney Creek runs into the Gasconade River. Thomas Harrison platted a town here in 1867 and a post office opened the next year. The place was first called Little Piney. Arlington, the later name, is usually traced to Robert E. Lee's plantation in Virginia. By 1874 about 150 people lived here, shipping lumber on the Pacific Railroad, and it became a popular resort.

The highway that became Route 66 came through on a bridge over the river in 1923, and in 1931 the road here was the last stretch of 66 in Missouri to be paved. Across the river, Stony Dell resort opened in 1932 with rock cabins and a big stone-clad pool. In 1946 a Rolla man bought the entire town for $10,000, planning a resort of his own that never came.

Then the traffic left. A four-lane US 66 bypassed the old bridge in 1952, the post office closed in 1958, and Interstate 44 cut through in the mid-1960s, taking most of Stony Dell with it. An RV park held on as the last business until 2008. Today Arlington is reached on a dead-end piece of old two-lane 66, and Wikipedia counts it as part of Newburg.

Timeline

Railroad, resort and Route 66

1. 1867Thomas Harrison plats the townsite near the mouth of Little Piney Creek. The place was first called Little Piney.
2. 1868The Arlington post office opens.
3. 1874About 150 people live here, and the town ships lumber on the Pacific Railroad.
4. 1923A highway bridge goes up over the river at Arlington. It later carries US 66.
5. 1931The road through Arlington is paved, the last stretch of Route 66 in Missouri to get pavement.
6. May 1932Stony Dell resort opens on Route 66 nearby, with rock cabins, a restaurant, a bathhouse and a 100-foot pool fed by artesian well water.
7. 1946Rowe Carney of Rolla buys the whole town for $10,000, planning a resort that never happens.
8. 1952A widened four-lane US 66 bypasses the 1923 bridge.
9. 1958The post office closes.
10. 1965–1967Interstate 44 is built past Arlington. Its realignment takes Stony Dell's pool and several of its buildings, and the old US 66 bridge is torn down.
11. 2008The RV park, the last business in Arlington, closes.

What's left

What's reported

The newest dated look at the town is a visit video posted in October 2023. It shows lived-in homes, an old two-story brick building by the tracks and the railroad bridge, and the visitor says many places are marked private property; a resident asked him to leave. On Arlington Road it shows Vernell's sign, the falling-down John's Modern Cabins and a Totem Pole cabin. Legends of America, in a page updated in March 2026 but without a visit date, lists several historic buildings at Arlington, including the old Arlington Hotel, with railroad tracks still running through town. Along Arlington Road on the way in, it describes the closed Vernell's Motel with its sign, the ruins of John's Modern Cabins and a lone building of the Totem Pole Tourist Camp. An undated visitor's account described a store, a few buildings and a schoolhouse or church at the campground that has since closed. Stony Dell's remains are now counted as part of Jerome, across the river.

The historic maps below show the change. On the 1912 sheet, Arlington is a cluster of buildings on the railroad, with Jerome across the Gasconade and an Arlington School to the southwest. The 1950 sheet, with later revisions printed in purple, shows a campground north of town and the interstate to the east. The 1980 photo-map shows the interstate cutting past the few buildings left, and the 2004 sheet still marks the campground.

• Old Arlington Hotel (reported)
• Railroad through town
• Motel and cabin ruins along Arlington Road (reported)
• Dead-end stretch of old Route 66

Historic maps

Arlington on USGS maps, 1912–2004

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19121:62,50019501:24,00019801:24,00020041:24,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Rolla is the nearest city. Both routes leave I-44 at exit 176 and follow Arlington Outer Road, a dead-end piece of old Route 66, to the townsite. We haven't driven it.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Have photos of Arlington?

We haven’t added more photographs of Arlington yet. If you’ve visited, share your photos and a field report below.

Visitor reports

Been to Arlington?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Arlington

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Missouri index.

• Westcott5.3 mi NE · Phelps
• Vessie7.7 mi SE · Phelps
• Spring Creek11.3 mi S · Phelps
• Signal11.4 mi NE · Phelps
• Macedonia13.1 mi NE · Phelps
• Relfe14.1 mi S · Phelps
• Bloodland18.9 mi SW · Pulaski
• Broadway19.0 mi NE · Maries

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Arlington": fact sheet fields (roads, climate) and a contributor's undated campground visit.
2. Wikipedia, "Arlington, Missouri", retrieved October 2026: Little Piney, the name, the railroad resort, the 1931 paving, the bridges, the 1946 sale, the 2008 closing, residents, road access, coordinates.
3. Legends of America, "Arlington Road", updated March 2026: the 1867 plat, 1874 population, the post office, Rowe Carney, the 1966 bridge, the RV park, I-44 exit 176, what it lists as remaining.
4. BATTLEFOXX LIVING EARTH, "Best of Route 66 ARLINGTON MISSOURI; Vernelle's Motel, John's Modern Cabins, Totem Pole Cabins", YouTube, posted October 28, 2023: the drive and walk along Arlington Road and into Arlington, the private property markings, the resident who asked the visitor to leave.
5. Missouri Encyclopedia, "Stony Dell", State Historical Society of Missouri, March 5, 2026: the resort, its pool, and the 1965 interstate realignment that took the pool and several buildings.
6. Jim Forte Postal History, Phelps County: post office 1868–1958.
7. RSMo 569.145, Missouri Revisor of Statutes: purple-paint posting.
8. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

• Arlington and Jerome at the mouth of the Little Piney, 1912 USGS sheet: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
• Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Rolla 1912, 1:62,500; Newburg 1950, 1:24,000; Newburg 1980, 1:24,000; Newburg 2004, 1:24,000.