History:
The town of Steele was incorporated October 9th, 1901, upon a petition presented to the County Court of Pemiscot County by 12 people, which constituted two-thirds of the taxable residents of the town on that date.

Several sawmills and what seemed to be an unlimited supply of virgin timber surrounded the town. Steele grew from the start, and soon had three good stores and three flourishing saloons. The F.T. Jackson Store Co., was the first merchant to locate here; Samford and Treece second, and the Cannon store third. The post office was located in the Samford and Treece store with George W. Treece the first postmaster.

The town, as originally incorporated, extended from the east side of the railroad track to the bank of Bailey Lake, one of a chain of lakes extending practically all over the county. For several months in the year, called the "gum boot" season, the town would overflow from rain water to the extent that at times a boat could be rowed from one end of Main Street to the other and anchor at any store door in town.
The sidewalks were of boards and built about four feet above the ground. Since the completion of the first dredge ditch through town in 1910, the water disappeared and what was once the bed of Bailey Lake is now the Echols and Cobb addition, the most exclusive residential section of Steele.

At the time of the organization of the new town, lumber, ties and bolts were the chief source of revenue, with fur and fish a close second. Land was valued solely for the timber thereon and could be bought for a few dollars per acre. Land that was at one time considered worthless so far as agriculture was concerned is now a part of what is regarded one of the richest agricultural sections of the United States.