Historic Washington State Park - Self-Guided Walking Tour
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Description
This Self-Guided Walking Tour of Historic Washington State Park lets you explore Washington, Arkansas and its history at your own pace.
1. 1874 Hempstead County Courthouse (Visitor Information Center)
The 1874 Courthouse replaced the 1836 Courthouse as the home of Hempstead County’s government, serving in that capacity until the county seat moved to Hope in 1939. This Italianate brick building housed the county court upstairs, with the offices of the county officials downstairs. This building is the Visitor Center for Historic Washington State Park and free admission to all visitors when open Tuesday--Sunday from 8am--5pm. Exhibits, park information, gift shop, and restrooms are located at this building.
2. Crouch House (c.1856)
This Greek Revival House, originally located less than 1 mile southwest of town on Arkansas Highway 195, was the home of local jeweler, musician, and freemason Augustus Crouch. Crouch bought the land in 1856 and had a home built on it by 1857. In 1874, he sold the home to his daughter, Elizabeth, and the house was later sold to the family of future judge Glenn T. Johnson. It was moved to Washington in the 1980s, on the same site as James Conway’s house that burned in 1903. It was restored with a focus on nineteenth century building construction and architecture. Guided tours are available of the building. Visit the Historic Washington State Park Visitor Center for more information.
3. Purdom House (c.1850)
This Greek Revival house belonged to a local physician, Dr. James A. L. Purdom, and is an exhibit of nineteenth century medicine. Located behind the house is an herb garden that includes various herbs used for medicinal purposes. The building was restored in 1978 by Historic Washington State Park. Guided tours are available of the building. Visit the Historic Washington State Park Visitor Center for more information.
4. Royston Town House (c.1845)
The Greek Revival house at the top of the hill was the town residence of Grandison D. Royston, a well-respected lawyer who also owned a plantation several miles northwest of town on the Southwest Trail. Easily identified by its colorful “four seasons” sidelights and large center hallway, the Royston Town House is mostly decorated to represent the styles of 1840-1860. Besides an attorney, Royston was an experienced statesman, serving as the first state representative for Hempstead County and Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives. During the Civil War, he served one term as a congressman in the Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia. He also served as a delegate for two Arkansas constitutional conventions in 1836 and 1874. Guided tours are available of the building. Visit the Historic Washington State Park Visitor Center for more information.
5. Royston Town House Magnolia Tree
This magnolia was planted around 1845, after John Brooks finished construction of the Royston Town House for Grandison Royston. It is not on the National Historic Register but it is associated with Grandison Royston in the same way as the magnolia at the Royston Law Office site, as Royston is said to have planted both.
6. Sanders House and Farmstead (c.1845)
This Greek Revival house is decorated to represent the period just before the Civil War. It was the home of Simon T. Sanders, who served as County Clerk of Hempstead County for thirty years from 1838-1868. The house is surrounded by an urban farmstead, as seen with a kitchen in back, grape vines in front, a barn, and space for horses and poultry. Guided tours are available of the building. Visit the Historic Washington State Park Visitor Center for more information.
7. B.W. Edwards Weapons Museum
A founding member of the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation, B.W. Edwards was an avid weapons collector who would donate his massive collection to the Foundation. Comprised of a wide range of muzzleloaders, rifles, handguns, revolvers, and knives, Edward’s collection of over 600 different weapons makes up most of the museum’s collection. Guided tours are available of the building. Visit the Historic Washington State Park Visitor Center for more information.
8. Washington Print Museum
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.
9. "Mail Carrier Smith" Southern Catalpa Tree
In 1831, fourteen-year-old John H. Smith carried the mail 180 miles from Washington, Arkansas, to Natchitoches, Louisiana. On his route, he passed a catalpa tree growing along the Red River and one day he filled his pocket with the fluffy seed. The seeds were scattered in the old court house yard in Washington, introducing the southern catalpa in Hempstead County.
10. 1836 Hempstead County Courthouse
One of the oldest Federal-style buildings standing in Arkansas, the 1836 Courthouse was the first proper courthouse in Hempstead County. It hosted one of the founding members of the Arkansas Grand Lodge, Mt. Horeb Lodge No. 4. In 1864, the county courthouse housed a special session of the Confederate General Assembly, following the government’s flight from Little Rock. After county business moved to the new 1874 Courthouse, the structure served as a schoolhouse for the next 40 years. In 1929, an effort was made to preserve the structure as a historic site, as it is today.This building is available on guided tours.
11. Moon Tree (1976)
This loblolly pine tree orbited the moon aboard Apollo 14 as a seedling in 1971, and was planted next to the 1836 Courthouse in 1976. Part of an experiment to see how space travel effected plant life, it is one of eighty such "moon trees" still standing today, and one of two in the state of Arkansas.
12. Washington Magnolia Tree (1839)
Planted in 1839 near the original location of Grandison Royston's law office, and currently shading the Royston Log Home which was relocated from his plantation, this southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is the tallest in the state of Arkansas. As a tree on park land, it is always accessible to visitors.
13. Royston Log Home (c.1835)
This saddlebag log cabin was built for the foreman of Grandison Royston’s plantation located up the Southwest Trail from Washington. Later lived in by Grandison's son, it was moved to town in 1986, and currently demonstrates frontier life. This house is available regularly on guided tours.
14. Block-Catts House (c.1832)
Built by Abraham Block, by 1832, for his large family, this house is one of the only remaining federal style houses built in southwest Arkansas. Block was the first documented Jewish settler in Arkansas. arriving in the late 1820s, and one of the most important businessmen in early Hempstead County.
15. Abraham Block Pecan Tree
The pecan tree is possibly the most economically important food crop native to North America. Pecans, with protein and a high fat content, were a major food source for Native Americans. Today, pecans continue to be prized. The wood is almost twice as strong as oak, and is used in furniture, doors, cabinets, and flooring for gymnasiums and roller skating rinks.
16. Blacksmith Shop (Reconstructed 1960)
This building is a reconstruction of the Blacksmith shop belonging to James Black, the man who forged Jim Bowie’s famous knife. The original building sat closer to the Southwest Trail on the edge of town. The reconstruction was built in a more accessible location by the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation and dedicated on May 31, 1961. The exact location of the shop is still unknown pending further research. Guided tours are available of the building. Visit the Historic Washington State Park Visitor Center for more information.
17. Black-Bowie Black Walnut Tree
The James Black—Jim Bowie Black Walnut tree is located near the current Blacksmith Shop on the northeast side of the 1914 Schoolhouse.James Black primarily used Black walnut in the coffin-shaped handles of his knives. Since the tree is a Black Walnut and it is located near the reconstructed Blacksmith Shop, it was named in honor of James Black and Jim Bowie.
18. Morrison Tavern (Reconstructed 1960)
A 1960s reconstruction of a pioneer-era roadside tavern inn, the Morrison Tavern Inn was constructed by the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation near the location of a similar structure that faced Franklin Street (Arkansas Highway 195). The current structure was built facing the new main road through town, US Highway 278.
