This line was chartered first by the Little Rock and Eastern Railway in 1887; the charter was conveyed to the Arkansas and Southern Railway Company later that same year, conveyed further to the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway in the same year as well. Construction of the line was completed in 1888. The StLA&T was purchased outright by the Saint Louis and Southwestern Railroad (the Cotton Belt) in 1891.
The charter itself was for a 41-mile line from a connection on the Cotton Belt at Altheimer to Argenta (present-day North Little Rock) to the northwest.