Historic Washington State Park
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Historic Washington State Park, also known as Old Washington State Park, is a state park located in the southwestern part of the State of Arkansas.
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[edit] Description
Historic Washington State Park is located at Washington, Arkansas. The park is dedicated to preserving the 19th-century history of the Washington area. The town was founded in 1824 and has been restored to much of its original condition. There are over 30 historic structures in the park.
[edit] History
Washington was an important stop on the Southwest Trail which ran from St. Louis, Missouri to the Red River port of Fulton, Arkansas 12 miles from Washington. At the time the Red River was the border between the United States and Mexico. The trail was one of the primary routes taken by Texas pioneers and later by volunteers on their way to fight in the Texas Revolution. A tavern at Washington was also the site where William B. Travis, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston did initial planning for Texas independence.
From 1863 to 1865 Old Washington was the site of the Confederate capitol of Arkansas after the fall of Little Rock, Arkansas to Union forces. The original Confederate State Capitol building (Arkansas) where the refugee government fled is still present in the park, and is part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark.
In 1873 the town went into decline when the railroad bypassed it. Two fires, one in 1875 and another in 1873 visited destruction on the center of town. In 1939 the town lost its position as the county-seat to nearby Hope, Arkansas.
In 1958 the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation began preserving the unique buildings and sites that currently lie within the park.
The park was established in 1965 and opened in 1973. The Southwest Regional Archives was established there in 1978. Since 1978 over 200,000 artifacts related to 19th century life have been recovered in the park and is the site of ongoing archaeological research on 19th century American small town life.
[edit] Buildings
The historic buildings provide excellent examples of the architectural styles popular in the American south during the 1824 to 1889 period. Examples of Southern Greek Revival and Federal architecture, Gothic Revival, Italianate, and also the rough-hewn timber or brace-frame construction of the frontier. The park visitor's center is located in the pioneer era county courthouse.
One of the restored buildings is the blacksmith shop of master blacksmith James Black who created the famous Bowie knife for Jim Bowie. The 1832 William's Tavern serves southern style lunch to park visitors in an authentic setting.
The streets of Old Washington have never been paved. The largest magnolia tree in Arkansas, (planted 1839), also graces the town. Everything within the original 1824 boundaries of the town are on the National Register of Historic Places.
[edit] Events
The park provides a variety of events for local residents and visitors including demonstrations and workshops on blacksmithing, weaving, sewing, candle-making, forging, and harness driving.
The park is host to various festivals including Civil War weekends and reenactments, the annual jonquil festival, and a Christmas festival and Victorian era Christmas ball.
The American Bladesmith Society runs a bladesmithing college at the site which graduates master bladesmiths and is the only school of its kind. Old Washington has been called the "Colonial Williamsburg of the Southwest" or "Colonial Williamsburg of Arkansas".
[edit] Collections
Historic Washington houses the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives which is the primary center for historical and genealogical research in the region. The archive contains rare books, court documents, newspapers, census information, photographs, scrapbooks, sheet music, and assorted family histories.
