Major Buildings
Park tours begin at the previous Hempstead County Courthouse, which was constructed in 1874 and is maintained as the museum headquarters and visitors center. On the top floor, one may meditate in the courtroom where trials and hearings were formerly held. After the county seat was moved to Hope, the 1874 courthouse was used as a school beginning in 1914. A gym was built during the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration. Both are still used for meeting rooms and group rental facilities.
- John Dyer Trimble House – Heirs of John D. Trimble donated their family home and furnishings to the museum in 1978. The artifacts highlight three generations who lived in the house in Hempstead County.
- Clardy/Goodlet Kitchen – This detached structure is believed to be one of the last original such kitchens in the state.
- Royston Log House – A demonstration of living in the 1830s–1860s. A guide shows visitors what materials and tools were essential to build a log house during the previous century.
- Crouch House – A Greek revival home constructed by Augustus M. Crouch, a jeweler and watchmaker who served in the Mexican War at the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847. This structure was located on museum grounds in 1980 at the site of a similar house which burned in 1903.
- B.W. Edwards Weapons Museum – A former bank houses a collection of weapons assembled by Basil W. Edwards, a local resident. The exhibit includes muskets, rifles, shotguns, matchlocks, flintlocks, revolvers, and Bowie knives. The weapons museum also includes an exhibit on Thomas Hamilton Simms 1838—1919), who served with the Hempstead Rifles at the Battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Missouri, early in the Civil War.
- Washington Print Museum – Interprets printing equipment and techniques from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The print shop is also run by Gary White.
- 1836 Courthouse - The original Hempstead Courthouse was in 1844 the scene of the first murder trial in Hempstead County. The courthouse was chosen by Governor Harris Flanagin during the Civil War as the Confederate capital of Arkansas. By 1858, Washington had outgrown the courthouse, and a new facility was proposed in 1872. When the second courthouse opened in 1874, the previous structure became the house of the county clerk. In time it was boarded up.
In 1929, the United Daughters of the Confederacy secured state funding to restore the 1836 Hempstead Courthouse. This was the first restoration money ever appropriated by the Arkansas General Assembly. The building now included in Washington Park has paintings of Confederate icons J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, and Pierre G.T. Beauregard on the walls.
In 1958, a group of Washington citizens formed the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation to preserve the old structures and interpret the history of Washington. They operated tours of some of the historic homes for fifteen years. In 1973, they invited the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism to assist in the preservation and interpretation of the village. The foundation donated property, buildings, and antiques, and Old Washington Historic State Park opened as the then thirty-fourth Arkansas state park on July 1, 1973.
- Block-Catts House – Built by Abraham Block, a merchant in Washington, this home, elegant in its day, is a rare Federal-style structure in southwest Arkansas. Block, an immigrant from Bohemia, had twelve children. Block first came to the port of New Orleans before heading northward. He was the first Jewish settler in Arkansas. His house was the oldest in Washington and the oldest two-story residence in the state. The house had a grand piano and impressive dining hall. Block died in 1857.
- Blacksmith Shop – The shop was built by the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation in 1960 as an interpretation center. It has two working forges. In 1831, James Black, the best known blacksmith in Washington, forged one of the original Bowie knives for the frontiersman James Bowie. The shop was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Hamilton Simms of the Hempstead Rifles.
- Simon Sanders House and Urban Farmstead – A program entitled "Her Work Is Never Done" presented at the Sanders House is a demonstration of the endless tasks assigned to a household slave during the antebellum years in Washington. Simon Sanders was the father-in-law of Augustus H. Garland, a Hempstead County resident who was Attorney General of the United States during the administration of U.S. President Grover Cleveland.
- Nashville High School – The restoration of a 1914 school in nearby Nashville was dedicated by the State Parks, Recreation, and Travel Commission in June 2003. It is located on the far eastern end of the village. Then Governor Mike Huckabee attended the dedication.
Read more about this topic: Historic Washington State Park
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