Institution

William Presley Hart was born in Tennessee in 1831. He graduated from Bethel College and later Jefferson College (now Washington &amp; Jefferson College) in Philadelphia. He came to Washington around 1855 to practice medicine. His first marriage was to Sallie Witter, a daughter of Daniel Tracy Witter, an early pioneer in Hempstead County. He was also an officer of Mount Horeb Lodge No. 4. When the Civil War broke out, he joined the Hempstead County Rifles as a private and fought at Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861. After this battle, he returned home and assisted in caring for the sick soldiers in Washington for the rest of the war.Among his apprentices were Samuel M. Carrigan, who became a leading physician in the state and in 1906 was president of the State Medical Board. Dr. James A.L. Purdom’s son, Alexander, also started his medical career with Hart before moving to Fort Smith. In 1875, Dr. Hart married Elizabeth L. Andrews, daughter of wealthy merchant and land speculator, William W. Andrews. He is buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery.

Hart Drug, with the brick post office (present-day Print Museum) to the left.

Portrait of William Presley Hart in a locket, part of park collection (2014.003.0003

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A large wood building that housed W.P. Hart’s drug store. Hart was also a practicing physician, and he opened his office to several young men who were learning medicine, including Alexander L. Purdom and Samuel M. Carrigan. It was also the starting point of the 1883 fire that destroyed ten businesses and caused $50,000 worth of damage. Coupled with Hope’s rapid growth as a railroad town, the fire was the start of many businesses relocating to Hope, beginning Washington’s decline as the county’s business center.

Hart Drug Store (c. 1883)

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William Henry Etter was born to Dutch immigrants on November 23, 1816, in York County, Pennsylvania. In 1839, William and his brother moved west to Washington, where they founded the "Washington Telegraph" newspaper. When the Confederate State Government of Arkansas fled to Washington, the "Washington Telegraph" was granted the state printing contract, and continued to print throughout the duration of the Civil War. In 1865, William Etter was on a mission to Texas and Mexico to purchase supplies when he was arrested by federal troops in the last week of the Civil War. While in prison, Etter contracted pneumonia and died at age 48. Etter’s family continued the printing business, with an Etter having a role in the Telegraph until it closed in 1947 by William H. Etter IV.This brick building was built originally for the post office of Washington at the turn of the twentieth century. By the time the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation was formed in 1957, the building had been converted into a small rental house. After purchasing it in the 1980s, Historic Washington State Park restored its original frontage so the building could be used to house the park’s growing printing equipment collection.The collection includes presses, drum presses, Linotype machines, and even various typewriters. Demonstrations occur on a drum press, using a large collection of type and graphics. The print shop equipment is also used to make several items in the park, including various documents given to the public, tickets for certain events, and the paper sacks used in the Gift Shop.

Washington was home to the "Washington Telegraph" newspaper. The first issue left the presses in February 1840. The Washington Print Museum is dedicated to printing methods and equipment from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Guided tours are available of the building. Visit the Historic Washington State Park Visitor Center for more information.

At around 2:30 a.m., the fire started in the back of W.D. Green’s two-story store building, on the site of the present-day Washington Print Museum. The fire quickly spread to the vacant store of Captain William Moss to the west, and the three-story Oddfellows Lodge to the east. The fire did not cross the streets of Lawrence or Conway. The fire then crossed Franklin Street, reaching the three-story Washington House Hotel and its stables and carriage sheds belonging to John D. Jones (modern-day Post Office parking lot), which contained the office of a Mr. Dutton, a shoe store, and the residence of a Mr. White and his family. The fire spread west up to Lawrence Street, taking out the shops of tailor Charles Payton, a barber named Hamilton (present-day Weapons Museum), tin worker R.B. Dennison, and cabinet maker London Johnson.The fire then jumped across Izard Street to Block 5 (present-day Candle Shop and Pecan Grove), destroying Beller’s Planters Hotel (which had a black-owned grocery on the ground floor), Augustus Crouch’s jewelry shop, and Baird &amp; Carruth’s new two-story store, which had $15,000 worth of goods on hand. Across Franklin Street, businesses lost on Block 4 included: H. Wright’s crockery shop, Rowton’s family grocery, Amonett’s saloon, Phillip’s store, Wright’s grocery, Matlock’s harness shop, and the law office of Williams &amp; Battle. The fire reached Block 6, destroying “The old Block Store House” (then the law office of Carrigan &amp; Jones), ironically stopping after burning down another store building belonging to W.D. Green.

The location of W.D. Green’s “old, dilapidated storehouse,” where a fire started on the night of July 3, 1875. An alarm was sounded around 3 a.m., but by sunlight a western wind had helped the fire spread eastward through 4½ blocks of Washington’s business district, on either side of Franklin Street. Almost two dozen businesses were affected, with the fire stopping just short of the 1836 Courthouse. The Washington Telegraph was evacuated of equipment and materials, but the building was spared. According to the Washington Telegraph, both men and women fought the fires with the aid of the Victorian version of a hook-and-ladder truck.

Washington Fire Of 1875

Edward Payson “Washbourne” was listed as being born to Cephas Washburn in Arkansas in 1831; however, this was in the thin western strip disputed with Indian Territory, so he was actually born in present-day Oklahoma. By treaty with the Choctaw, the Washburns were forced to move to the northeastern corner of Oklahoma, where Edward started his interest in art. In 1851, the Washburn family moved to Fort Smith, where Edward began his formal art training and started selling portraits. It was also at this time Edward and his siblings began spelling their name as “Washbourne,” mainly to distinguish themselves from northern relatives. In 1853, Washbourne reportedly traveled to New York to study under Charles Loring Elliott, but returned to Arkansas lacking the funds to travel to Europe. Having studios everywhere from Fayetteville to Fort Smith to Little Rock and Washington, it was from Sevier County in 1856 that Washbourne wrote to his brother that he had painted what would become his most famous work, The Arkansas Traveler. Based on the folktale and song, it depicted the traveler on horseback and the backwoods squatter playing his fiddle outside his shack. The painting was selected for printing by lithographer J. H. Bufford of Boston, and at its launch in 1859, became a smash hit. Unfortunately for Edward Washbourne, he didn’t get to see much of his success, as he suddenly fell ill in Little Rock and passed away in March of 1860, just months after turning 28.

The Odd Fellows is a fraternal order like the Freemasons that was founded In England. The most popular theory for the name comes from the 1700s, when men of a certain trade would join a guild; for workers whose small ”odd” trade wouldn’t garner a large local membership, they formed their own lodge, the “Odd Fellows.” The American lodge separated from the British lodge in the 1800s. The Washington lodge, co-founded by Bernard F. Hempstead, sat on Conway Street, two blocks from Block 6 and the 1836 Courthouse. In 2006, it was discovered that artist Edward Payson Washbourne, best known for painting The Arkansas Traveler, was listed as renting a room as a studio on the third floor of the building in March of 1856. The building itself was lost to the 1875 fire.

Washington Print Museum

Hart Drug Store (c. 1883)

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