The towns of Arcadia, Ironton, and Pilot Knob are located in the Arcadia Valley. The valley’s iron mining industry helped spur population growth and led the St. Louis & Iron Mt. Railroad to extend its tracks to Pilot Knob in 1858. The strategic importance of the railroad terminus and supply depot in Pilot Knob brought Union forces into the valley during the Civil War and made it the site of the Battle of Pilot Knob.
