Brooklet's Adventures: Washington, Arkansas

I hate long drives. This fact seems to go against my love of traveling, but the truth is, there is nothing I hate more than sitting in a car for hours and hours on end. So how do I reconcile my hatred of long drives with my love of traveling? By finding all the unique places to stop along the way!

Long drives aren't as bad when you can break them up into shorter drives.

It's truly amazing what you can find when you look for it. Travel planning sites often leave out the smaller things to do in an area. Sometimes you have to really search for things to do, but if you know where to look, then you will be surprised at how much you can find.

When I travel, I try to look at all the small towns that will be on my path to my final destination. I also scope out the brochures in hotel lobbys and gas stations along the way.

Don't always assume that the biggest attraction is the best attraction. Roadside stops are pretty interesting too. They can range from the cheesy to the historical and anything in between.

Washington, Arkansas was one of these places for me. Information about it was buried deep inside a travel magazine in our hotel in Hot Springs. It caught my attention because it said "Washington State Park". It's a slightly confusing name because my first though was "Washington State? But we're in Arkansas." Upon further reading it really says, "Washington - State Park". The town of Washington, Arkansas is a State Park.

We were going to be passing near this town on our way back to Texas, so we decided to divert our route a little to stop by. I love history, and the best history is REAL history. new buildings that are meant to look like old buildings are interesting because they allow you to see what something was like in the past, but original buildings are just amazing to see.

Washington is an almost completely preserved pre-Civil War era town. It's truly incredible for only being a state park. Most buildings have been restored and are now open to the public. It's literally an entire town. Not all of the buildings are original to the town of Washington. Some have been moved there from other nearby towns and restored (and placed on the sites of original homes that burned down). Some buildings have been completely rebuilt (like the blacksmith shop) and some are post Civil War era (the 1914 Schoolhouse) but all in all, this is an amazingly preserved piece of history.

Outside of the park, the town of Washington has a whooping 148 residents (according to the 2000 census) and one single restaurant (that is part of the state park). It's a small, hidden place that I wish more people knew about!

Unfortunately, due to the fact that this is a state park, not a national park, funding is lower than funding for a national park, and this seems to make the state park run less effectively. There are approximately 30 buildings in the park, but not every building is open every day. The number of buildings open seems dependent on the number of employees they have for the day, so they rotate which ones are open and which ones are closed daily. This place would have incredible potential as a national park. That being said though, it's a pretty amazing state park. If you're passing through this area, definitely stop to check it out!

Click here for information on all of the buildings pictured below.

This is where we ate lunch - great home cooked southern food!

Williams Tavern Restaurant

1874 Hempstead County Courthouse

Inside the 1874 Courthouse

Washington has the oldest continuous operating post office in the state of Arkansas (it changed buildings but never stopped operating)

The current post office

The original Washington post office building

Washington Presbyterian Church (undergoing renovations while we were there)

The armory - now a weapons museum

(Unfortunately I do not remember what this building was - though it may be a kitchen. I will have to look around and update this when I find the answer.)