Mena is located in between Fort Smith and Texarkana. It was built in 1896 as a railway station for west/central Arkansas. It was founded by a railway company promoter named Arthur Stilwell and the name Mena was his wife's nickname. Mena was a real wild west town with roads of dirt and wodden buildings and saloons. Thanks to the railroad Mena became a natural trading point and that allowed the town to grow. But when a lot of the train traffic started going via Heavener, Oklahoma, in 1910, the railroad industry declined and would never be as big as it once was. Passenger trains stopped going all together in 1969 Mena started looking towards small businesses to bring employment to the town. Today Aalfs, United States Electrical Motors and street & performance are the three largest job providers in Mena that has a population of 5,600 people.

City Officials

Position	Name
Mayor	Seth Smith
Clerk/Treasurer	Kacie Rose
Assistant To Mayor	Becky Horton
District Judge	Danny Thrailkill
City Attorney	Patrick McDaniel
Police Chief	Tommy Stueart
Fire Chief	Steve Egger
Street Superintendent	Aaron Rice
Wastewater Utility Super.	James Looney
Code Enforcement Officer	Bryan Ross
Animal Control	Kristine Couture
Airport Manager	Fred Ogden
Parks, Recreation Director	Philip Lance
Council Member	Andy Brown
Council Member	Stanley Craig
Council Member	Mary Alice Head
Council Member	Brooke Hines
Council Member	Larry Stewart
Council Member	James Earl Turner
Human Resources Director	Bevona Williams