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Fort Smith National Historic Site, Fort Smith, AR

Photo: Photolitherland, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

SightseeingHistory Buff

Fort Smith National Historic Site

Walk through Judge Parker's courtroom, the old federal jail and a rebuilt gallows on the Arkansas River frontier.

301 Parker Ave · Fort Smith, AR

About Fort Smith National Historic Site

This National Park Service site covers almost 80 years of frontier history, from the first fort of 1817 to the end of Judge Isaac C. Parker's federal court in 1896. The visitor center fills the old barracks, courthouse and jail building, with exhibits on soldiers, the court and Indian removal. Outside you can see the foundation of the first fort, the commissary building and a reconstruction of the gallows. A riverside trail has exhibits on the Trail of Tears.

  • #national historic site
  • #frontier history
  • #historic courtroom
  • #trail of tears
  • #old west

Printable maps

What's around here?

The closest stops to Fort Smith National Historic Site, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Museums

    Fort Smith Museum of History

    Check prices

    A downtown Fort Smith museum that presents the history of the city and its surrounding region.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    Right next doorSwitch it up: Museums

  • Sightseeing
    Outdoor Adventure

    Western Arkansas' Mountain Frontier

    No admission fee

    Regional tourism association covering six Western Arkansas counties of mountains, rivers and small towns.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    Steps awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center

    Under $25

    Hike nearly two miles of trails past 12 ancient mounds at Oklahoma's only prehistoric Native American site open to visitors.

    9.4 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Lake Fort Smith State Park

    Check prices

    A lakeside state park in the Boston Mountains offering camping, cabins, fishing, kayaking, and hiking.

    28 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Devil's Den State Park

    No admission fee

    Hike, bike and ride horses through sandstone crevices and bluffs in a 1930s CCC-built park in the Boston Mountains.

    29 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Sightseeing

    Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park

    No admission fee

    A well-preserved Civil War battlefield park in northwest Arkansas, with a museum and walking and driving tours.

    42 mi awayMore like this