LITTLE ROCK — The historic town of Washington, Arkansas, has always had a special place in my heart. I was hired by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism as their first historical parks planner in 1977. My duty was to look after restoration and development work at the historical parks within the parks system-which is no small number. Prairie Grove Battlefield Park in western Washington County was a jewel within the parks system. Powhatan Courthouse in Lawrence County was not yet a jewel, but it was certainly a place of great potential for interpreting late 19th Century Arkansas history. Old Davidsonville State Park, in northeast Arkansas, was used as a recreational park, but it was also the location of the first post office, court house and land office in Arkansas. More than a dozen other historical or prehistoric sites were within the parks system, but undoubtedly the finest was what we then called Old Washington.
Located astride the Southwest Trail, Washington was settled in about 1824, making it one of the older continually inhabited towns in Arkansas. Itwas a bustling town, with prominent politicians, lawyers, planters, merchants, and a sprightly little newspaper that even remained in print during the longyears of the Civil War. Indeed, Washington served as the Confederate state capital after Little Rock fell in September 1863.
Location was the reason for Washington’s founding, and it was also the cause of its long decline. When railroads came through southwest Arkansas in the 1870s, Washington was bypassed-and this began a long decline for the historic village.
Fortunately, a nonprofit group called the Pioneer Washington Foundation helped preserve much of the town. In 1973, the legislature created Old Washington State Park in recognition of the historical significance of the town. The park has been a considerable burden on the state parks system, but much progress has been made through the years. Private investors, such as the ardent preservationist Parker Westbrook, have also worked to save the town.
Historic Washington State Park includes 54 buildings on 101 acres. Thirty buildings are considered historically significant, and many have been restored. Selected historic buildings are open for daily tours.
I was reminded of Washington’s historical significance recently when I finally got around to reading Mary L. Kwas’ excellent book, Digging for History at Old Washington (UA Press, 2009). Kwas is a research archeologist at the Arkansas Archeological Survey in Fayetteville, and her new book demonstrates how much historicalarcheology has contributed to our knowledge of this remote but important little town.
Leslie “Skip” Stewart-Abernathy-the Arkansas native and Brown University graduate who brought historical archeology to the state-and other archeologists began excavating at Washington in 1981, and the digging has continued off and on ever since. The Arkansas Archeological Society has held field training programs at Washington.
Among the more interesting sites excavated at Washington was the home of Simon and Zenobia Sanders. Simon Sanders was a long-time Hempstead County clerk and father-in-law of jurist and politician Augustus H. Garland-who would serve as governor of Arkansas, U.S. senator, and U.S. attorney general under President GroverCleveland. Garland and his wife might have lived with Simon Sanders for a time after their marriage.
The Sanders home is of Greek Revival design, apopular style when it was built in 1844-45. Taking up a whole city block, Sanders’ home was actually an urban “farmstead.” In addition to the main house, outbuildings included a detached kitchen, a barn and nearby stable, three water wells, a grape arbor, and pasturage for the family milk cow. Privies and refuse pits were a necessity of life.
Archeologists have uncovered large amounts of kitchen items, china and glassware, as well as stoneware. One item testified to the fact that frontier people kept up with popular culture. A fragment of a stoneware lid had an imprint commemorating the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, the first World’s Fair.
Many artifacts were associated with children and women. Pieces of porcelain dolls turned up in numbers. A writing slate contained names and drawings by children. A particularly poignant artifact was a woman’s mourning broach, with several of the black faceted stones still intact. The Sanders women had plenty of need for mourning attire since many members of the family died in infancy or childhood.
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Tom Dillard is head of special collections at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and author of the new book Statesmen, Scoundrels, & Eccentrics: A Gallery of Amazing Arkansans. Email him at tdillar@uark.edu.
Editorial, Pages 84 on 11/28/2010