Manila

History

Manila has its origins in a herdsman's camp established by John Needham in the late 1860s. By the late 1890s, a community known as "Cinda" (named after an early postmaster's sister) had developed in the area. In 1901, this community incorporated as a city, and chose the name "Manila" to honor Commodore George Dewey's 1898 victory in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War. In the early 1900s, the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad (later part of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway system) extended a rail line to Manila. In 1910, the Manila Depot was constructed by the railroad.

Geography

Manila is located in northwestern Mississippi County in the Arkansas Delta region. The city is situated at the intersection of Arkansas Highway 18 and Arkansas Highway 77, south of the Arkansas–Missouri state line. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. The Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge, which preserves some of the bottomland hardwood forest typical of this ecoregion prior to development for row agriculture lies just east of Manila.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  347
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  313
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  239
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  238
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  229
• Bald Eagle

  Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  206
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  201
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  199

Most recent

• M 2.63 — 2026-08-04
  6 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
• M 2.64 — 2026-05-15
  8 km NW of Tiptonville, Tennessee
• M 4 — 2026-04-23
  1 km WNW of Cooter, Missouri
• M 2.84 — 2026-03-02
  3 km NW of Marston, Missouri
• M 2.52 — 2025-12-30
  12 km WNW of Newbern, Tennessee
• M 2.59 — 2025-12-03
  1 km NNW of Cooter, Missouri