Arthur Stilwell was a transportation visionary in the late 1800s. He saw the need for a railroad line from Kansas City, which was becoming a major agricultural trading center, to the Gulf of Mexico.
He built the Kansas City Suburban Belt Railway in 1887, and later constructed two railroads south of Kansas City to serve zinc, lead and coal mining areas. Stilwell then purchased the Texarkana & Fort Smith Railroad in 1892 and put all of his properties under the name Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad. The following year saw the purchase of the Kansas City, Fort Smith & Southern Railroad linking Joplin, Mo., to Sulphur Springs in Benton County.
"Given that the Panic of 1893 dried up sources of U.S. funding for railroad projects, Stilwell went to the Netherlands and secured financing that paid for an extension from Sulphur Springs to Siloam Springs in 1893," Tom Duggan writes for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. "The KCP&G entered Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) as it pushed south and then re-entered Arkansas in 1896 when Mena was reached. The following year saw completion of track to the Arkansas-Texas border as well as construction in Texas and Louisiana. Service on the completed 786-mile line from Kansas City to Port Arthur, Texas, began on Sept. 22, 1897."
To increase ridership, railroads across the country were building resorts near their lines. Stilwell decided that an inn was needed atop Rich Mountain in the Ouachita Mountains near Mena, Arkansas' second-highest peak behind Mount Magazine. His Dutch investors suggested that the lodge be named for Queen Wilhelmina, who was to be crowned in September 1898. A suite on the second floor was built in hopes that she would visit Arkansas. That never occurred, but the lodge was erected at a cost of $100,000. Trains stopped at the foot of the mountain, and passengers were taken to the top in wagons pulled by draft mules.
The grand opening was on June 22, 1898, and the inn was advertised as the Castle in the Sky or the Castle in the Clouds. Stilwell soon ran into financial difficulties. He had made a deal with George Pullman, the railroad car millionaire, to finance equipment purchases. But Pullman died, and Stilwell lost control of the railroad. It was reorganized as the Kansas City Southern Railway Co. in 1900. A north-south railroad in a country with mainly east-west rail systems, the KCS owns 200 miles of track in western Arkansas. The railroad has more than 4,000 miles of track in 10 states and is one of the few railroads to have had the same name for more than a century.
Harvey Couch, the founder of Arkansas Power & Light Co., became the KCS chairman in 1939, serving in that role until 1944. The KCS offered passenger service longer than most railroads, even purchasing passenger equipment in the 1960s from railroads phasing out their services. Passenger service ended in November 1969.
With Stilwell out of the picture in 1900, the inn atop Rich Mountain began to decline and was closed in 1910. Soon, animals were being housed in it. By the 1930s, only the stone fences and fireplaces remained. In 1940, a professor from Centenary College in Shreveport decided to create a summer music camp on the site, a plan that excited area residents. The start of American involvement in World War II the following year put an end to those plans.
In the 1950s, state Sen. Roy Riales led efforts to establish a state park on Rich Mountain. The park was created during the 1957 legislative session. The March 21, 1957, dedication ceremony for Queen Wilhelmina State Park was held in Mena since there were no facilities on the mountain.
Construction of a state park lodge began in 1959, using the ruins of the old lodge as a base. A restaurant opened in 1961. As state funds were appropriated, 17 guest rooms were built, and the lodge was dedicated on June 22, 1963, the 65th anniversary of the dedication of the original inn. The small lodge was popular for a decade until a fire that began in the kitchen destroyed it on Nov. 10, 1973. Dale Bumpers was in his second term as governor at the time and had made improvement of the state parks system a priority. Almost $3 million was appropriated for a 38-room lodge, and it was dedicated on Nov. 23, 1975, during David Pryor's first year as governor.
In November 2011, the Department of Parks & Tourism announced that the lodge would close on Feb. 1, 2012, for a $6.2 million renovation; the lodge was to reopen in the summer of 2013. Plans were to install larger windows, new insulated walls, a hearth room with a large fireplace, an expanded gift shop and two additional rooms to make the total 40. Four guest rooms would be outfitted with gas fireplaces and spa-style tubs. Problems with the original contractor, though, led to delays and a change in contractors. What had been announced as a $6.2 million renovation ended up costing $9.6 million, with the reopening in the summer of 2015.
Having stayed there on the night before Easter, I can attest to the fact that it was worth the wait. The view from my room was spectacular. Though it was a bit too chilly to sit in the rocking chairs on the porch, the hearth room, which has huge windows on three sides, proved a perfect spot to watch the sunset. The fried catfish on the dinner buffet provided a nice end to the evening. I couldn't help but think that Arthur Stilwell would be happy with what's happened atop Rich Mountain.
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Freelance columnist Rex Nelson is the director of corporate communications for Simmons First National Corp. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.
Editorial on 04/06/2016