Fort Smith - Page 3

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On February 26, 1897, Congress enacted legislation to extend Parker and Rogers Avenues, and Third and Second Streets through this property. The Old Fort Reserve Addition was surveyed in June and sold to private concerns. The stone wall of the fort was dismantled between July 1, 1897, and July 1, 1898, after which time streets were extended. By 1900, several large multi-storied brick buildings had been built or were under construction, and the Old Fort Reserve Addition emerged as the light industrial and warehouse district of Fort Smith. The Courtroom/Jail complex became a civic center and housed a variety of city offices and community organizations. Sometime around the turn of the century, Belle Point was densely populated and acquired the name “Coke Hill.” Coke Hill was a squatter settlement and the individual plots of lands were randomly oriented, ignoring the city of Fort Smith's platted lot system.

Public interest in the old fort increased during the early twentieth century. In 1910, the Old Fort Museum Association occupied the Commissary and used the building as a museum. In 1957, Public Histori3- 6 cal Restorations Incorporated restored the courthouse to its original condition. Local businessmen donated funds to purchase private interests on Coke Hill and in 1958 sponsored the first archeological excavation at the site. In 1961, the city of Fort Smith donated eleven acres of land containing the site of the first fort, the Courtroom/Jail complex, and the Commissary Building to the National Park Service. Since the creation of Fort Smith National Historic Site, land holdings of up to 75 acres have been authorized and several intrusive streets and post-historic buildings have been removed. 

Today, the Fort Smith National Historic Site includes the remains of the two frontier forts and the Federal Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Contact Information:

Fort Smith National Historic Site

P.O. Box 1406

301 Parker Avenue
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901

Is Fort Smith Haunted?

If it's Old West reputation isn't enough, the old courthouse is said to be haunted by none other than Judge Parker himself. Allegedly, many of those executed on these historic ground are also said lurk on the property.

Reader Update:

When I visited Fort Smith, Judge Parker's Courthouse was closed, so I walked around the building a bit. Of course, my interest was drawn to the large gallows. I believe that it was a replica, but I climbed the stairs and approached the cross beam, when I suddenly felt this chill, (on a very warm day), and a feeling that this was an evil area, and I quickly left and went to my nearby car. My wife, who also has a "sixth sense," as I and observed my movement on the scaffold, asked if I had felt something eerie, as she had. Maybe it just a fluke, but then again, some things cannot be explained. -- D. Ward Gagner, Bangor, Maine, November, 2007

Judge Parker's Court Room at Fort Smith, October, 2007, Kathy Weiser. 

Also See:

George Maledon - Prince of Hangmen

Heck Thomas - Tough Law in Indian Territory

Isaac Parker, the "Hanging Judge"

Book your lodging in Fort Smith right HERE!

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From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Native American Founding Fathers - It is too often forgotten that the first to settle America were the Native Americans. They, along with their chiefs and heroes should be commemorated just like like the colonists that formed our Constitution. Utilizing our great vintage photos, we have created a montage to recognize these great founders.