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    Washington
    Washington
    Washington
    Ebook214 pages1 hour

    Washington

    By Joshua Williams

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    About this ebook

    Located on the Southwest Trail that connected St. Louis to Texas, the town of Washington was established in 1824 in the southwest corner of Arkansas. Named after the first president of the United States, Washington is an example of a true American town with the city streets bearing the names of famous countrymen. American icons such as James Bowie, Sam Houston, and Davy Crockett all passed through this unique community. One of its citizens, a local blacksmith, made a knife for Bowie, which became infamously known as the Bowie Knife. During the last two years of the Civil War, Washington became the capital of the Confederate government of Arkansas. In later years, it was bypassed by the railroad, and the town faced decline. In the 20th century, concerned citizens pushed for its restoration, and today Washington consists of a state park that continues to tell the story of this unique community to future generations.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJun 30, 2014
    ISBN9781439645987
    Washington

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      Book preview

      Washington - Joshua Williams

      (SARA).

      INTRODUCTION

      In Arkansas and Texas history circles many people have heard of the town of Washington, Arkansas, and its role in 19th-century America. Some know the town because of its connection with the famous knife belonging to James Bowie. If they are Civil War enthusiasts, they know of the town because of its role in the war, particularly as the Arkansas Confederate state capital for the last half of the war. Outside of these, most know very little more about the town of Washington and its people.

      Today, Washington is an incorporated town and is home to a state park that receives around 75,000 visitors a year. Some of its buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and the town is classified as a National Historic District. The state park takes care of and interprets over 15 structures that predate 1900. Many are residential Greek Revival homes built prior to the Civil War that were owned by middle-class Americans. The history of the town of Washington reflects the story of America in all its aspects, from its founding to its present state today.

      Washington is truly an American town. It is named after the first president of the United States, and its streets are named after various American heroes such as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Capt. James Lawrence of the War of 1812. Another street is named after Charles Carroll, the oldest living signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was still alive when the town was platted in 1824.

      In that year, Washington was founded on a sandy hill in southwest Arkansas. It has been called in recent times the Hill of the Five Trails because of the five major trails that came through the area before European settlement. One of these was later dubbed the Southwest Trail connecting St. Louis, Missouri, to the Red River near the modern-day Arkansas and Texas state line. It ran diagonally northeast-to-southwest across the state, with Washington being one of the last major towns outside of Fulton where travelers could stop before leaving the United States and entering Texas. The area was earlier the location of a religious campground for the local Methodist community of Mound Prairie before becoming a town with the establishment of a local tavern by Elijah Stuart at the top of the hill.

      After 1824, Washington, like the rest of Arkansas, began to see a large amount of growth. Many newcomers from the eastern United States came down the trail and settled in southwest Arkansas, which provided fertile land for farming with good water sources. One of the first merchants in the town was Abraham Block, who is known as the first documented Jewish settler in Arkansas. He began a thriving business and provided goods imported from Europe via New Orleans. Around 1831, a local blacksmith by the name of James Black had started to become well known for his skills. James Bowie, who was involved in land speculation and had come through the region at different times, learned of Black’s skill as a bladesmith and asked him to make a knife. According to Black, he made a knife for Bowie that became known as the bowie knife. In the 1830s, the town witnessed the removal of what were known as the Five Civilized Tribes from the east. The Choctaw and Chickasaw came through the town on their way to settle in the southern half of present-day Oklahoma. Several residents of the town and Hempstead County became wealthy through contracts with the US government to provide supplies and food to the tribes as they came through.

      From 1840 to the beginning of the Civil War, Washington saw enormous development and growth, as did most of Arkansas. After 1836, Arkansas had become the 25th state in the Union. Many newcomers from the east began to move out west and settle in the community. In 1840 the town had its first newspaper, the Washington Telegraph, established by a man from Pennsylvania named William H. Etter. Greek Revival wood-framed houses began to be built in the vicinity and housed people of different occupations, from doctors and lawyers to artisans and farmers. The community saw the effects of the Mexican-American War, with many of its residents volunteering and the town becoming a muster location for volunteers. Afterwards, the national interest in gold in California hit the town. By 1860 the community had over 1,000 residents, boasted two private seminaries for girls and boys, and was located in one of the most prosperous counties in the state.

      The year 1861 saw Washington directly involved in the Civil War. As in the rest of Arkansas, many of Washington’s residents were against secession. When Abraham Lincoln called for troops to bring the seceding states back into the Union, however, the community decided to support the Confederate cause. Three men from the town went on to represent Arkansas in the Confederate Congress in Richmond. The town and county sent at least 19 documented companies to fight in the war. After the fall of Little Rock in September 1863, Washington became the capital for the Confederate government of Arkansas, and military supplies and stores were located there to help supply the Confederate army west of the Mississippi River. With the end of the Civil War, the town, like many across the United States, faced new changes with the loss of many of its residents and the abolition of slavery.

      After the Civil War, many antebellum communities were bypassed by new railroads. Business and commerce had tried to continue in Washington, but suffered a blow when the Cairo & Fulton Railroad bypassed the town and formed the new community of Hope in 1875. Two major fires hit the business district of Washington in 1875 and 1883, causing some of the businesses to move to the rising town of Hope. Washington remained the county seat, building a two-story brick courthouse

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