Historic Sites

Prarie Grove battle reenactment

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette describes early Northwest Arkansas as a rural mountain area with country doctors and Ozark troubadours roaming the countryside. This area is replete with reminders of the past. Cemeteries large and small hold names of long family lines and noted public figures in the communities. Museums and parks collect and preserve the stories for future generations.

Northwest Arkansas' museums exhibit Arkansas' natural history, its native plant-life and the cultures of Native American civilizations. The area also was strategically crucial in the Civil War, as the Union Army marched south to secure the western front.

Prairie Grove State Park

Prairie Grove State Park is recognized nationally as one of America's most intact Civil War battlefields. The park protects the battle site and interprets the Battle of Prairie Grove, where on December 7, 1862, the Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi clashed with the Union Army of the Frontier resulting in about 2,700 casualties in a day of fierce fighting. Walk along the ridge and into the valley where the heaviest fighting took place. See wayside exhibits on the 1-mile Battlefield Trail, or travel the park's 6 1/2-mile Driving Tour. Exhibits, tours and other programs describe the battle and its local effect. The park hosts Arkansas's largest battle reenactment on the first weekend of December on even-numbered years.

Pea Ridge National Military Park

Pea Ridge National Military Park is a 4,300-acre Civil War Battlefield preserving the site of the March 1862 battle that saved Missouri for the Union. Nearly 26,000 soldiers fought to determine whether Missouri would remain under Union control, and whether or not Federal armies could continue their offensive south through the Mississippi River Valley. The park also includes a two and one half mile segment of the Trail of Tears. The Elkhorn Tavern, site of bitter fighting on both days, is a NPS reconstruction on the site of the original. The park is one of the most well preserved battlefields in the United States.

Headquarters House

In the heart of Fayetteville's historic district is one of Arkansas' most famous ante-bellum homes - The Headquarters House. It was built in 1853 by Judge Jonas M. Tebbetts and served as headquarters for both the North and the South during the Civil War. The Washington County Historical Society is dedicated to preserving and maintaining this lovely Greek revival home.

The grounds surrounding the house are tended by volunteers who have labored diligently to produce gardens that are historically accurate. Archibald Yell's law office, built around 1835, is also on the grounds. Several pieces of Masonic furniture displayed in the building are on loan to the society from Fayetteville's Lodge No. 1, co-founded by Governor Yell, and are believed to have been constructed by the Governor himself

Old Washington County Courthouse

Recently celebrating its Centennial, the old Washington County Courthouse was built in 1904 of native stone hand-cut and hauled to the site by ox wagons. The main floor lobby contains one of Fayetteville's largest and most important murals, created in memory of World War I soldiers. South of the courthouse is the old Washington County Jail. Completed in 1897, the building has three-foot-thick cut-stone walls and boasts the semicircular arched openings and crenulated corner towers of the Romanesque architectural style.

Shiloh Museum of Ozark History

The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History was formed in 1965 when the city of Springdale bought former mayor Guy Howard's collection of American Indian artifacts he'd displayed museum-style in his home. The current 22,000-square-foot building is a popular destination for school field trips, housing a permanent exhibit and rotating exhibits from its permanent collection. When children visit the 1850s-era log cabin, moved from Elm Springs to the museum grounds in 1979, they can listen to stories as they sit on quilts before a roaring fire.

Other historic sites are:

• President Bill Clinton's Fayetteville Home
• Arkansas Country Doctor Museum
• Ozark Arts & Crafts Guild and Heritage Center
• Ozark Military Museum
• Ozark Reptile Museum
• Peel Mansion
• Tontitown Museum