Historic Washington State Park

Arkansas State Park Preserving The Town Of Washington, A Stop On The Southwest Trail Founded In 1824, Which Served As The Confederate Capital Of Arkansas From 1863 To 1865. More Than Thirty Original Nineteenth Century Structures Survive On Their Original Sites. · Washington, Arkansas

Washington was a real town on the Southwest Trail, the road that carried settlers towards Texas, and almost everyone going that way came through it - Sam Houston, Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie among them. James Black, the local blacksmith, is credited with forging the knife Bowie made famous, which is why the town claims the Bowie knife and why there is still a working smithy here. When Little Rock fell in 1863 the Confederate state government moved to Washington and ran Arkansas from the courthouse until the war ended. Then the railroad went to Hope instead, the town stopped growing, and that failure is the reason more than thirty original nineteenth-century buildings are still standing on their own ground rather than reassembled in a field somewhere. The state park is the town: you walk the public streets, and the historic buildings are opened by guides rather than roped off behind glass, which is a rarer arrangement than it sounds.

103 Franklin Street, Washington, Arkansas, 71862, United States

The town streets are public and open at all times. The historic buildings can only be entered on a guided tour, and tours run from the visitor centre on a daytime schedule, typically several departures a day with the last well before closing; buildings are ticketed as a group rather than individually. The park closes on major holidays and reduces its schedule in winter. The restaurant in the historic Williams Tavern keeps its own, shorter, hours. Confirm the day's tour times before driving - this is a small town off the interstate.

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