The Wire Road

The Wire Road was a section of the St. Louis to Springfield stage route and ran into Arkansas. The road got its name from the strining a telegraph wire along its route by Union soldiers. It began at Rolla, the terminus of the southwesterly railroad branch. Troops and supplies were picked up at Rolla. A column could make the Rolla to Waynesville trip in two days, a distance of about 25 miles, if the weather was good.