Havana is a city in Yell County, Arkansas, located between Booneville and Danville on State Highway 10. Before Havana was incorporated in 1900, several names were given to the small settlement that was developing on the north side of the Petit Jean River. Marvinville was the earliest name given to the settlement, which was a stopping-point on the Military Road which connected Dardanelle and Booneville. After the Civil War, the same settlement was known as Gardner Station, named for Richard H. Gardner, a doctor and Confederate veteran. When a railroad line, later acquired by the Rock Island Railroad, was first constructed through Yell County in 1898, the line passed a mile east of the community, so residents decided to relocate the settlement. O. J. Fergeson provided land for the city site, and G. W. Green surveyed the lots. The city at first was named Greenville to honor Green, but the name was changed to Havana in 1903, presumably to avoid confusion with other towns named Greenville. No record was kept reporting why the name Havana was selected (Teske, 2016).
Citation
Teske, Steven. (2016, Dec. 19). Havana (Yell County). Retrieved from encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
How it all Began 