Arkansas boasts more than 2,800 historic places, from Victorian homes and vernacular wooden structures to courthouses and bank buildings.
But 17 properties which hold the honorary designation of National Historic Landmark truly stand out. These sites represent iconic ideals that shaped America, distinguished examples of design or construction techniques, or archaeological sites which yield valuable knowledge.
Arkansas Post
The Arkansas Post National Memorial commemorates the site of what became Arkansas. French explorer Henri de Tonti established a trading post here near Quapaw village in 1686; later it would become a bustling river town and eventually its own territory capital of Arkansas. Over time, this location served as a strategic military position for French, British, American, and Confederate militaries – both during wartime as well as after.
Although Arkansas Post was significant, its life was plagued by natural and man-made challenges. Every year the Arkansas River turned it into a floodplain, devastating crops and homes and forcing several moves of the Post in response to flooding and Indian raids. When the Seven Years’ War concluded in 1763, France ceded Louisiana east of Mississippi to England and Spain took possession of Arkansas Post. Now visitors to Arkansas Post Park can explore a replica of its original post while touring its museum at its visitor center.
Toltec Mounds
Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park’s grass-covered mounds stand proud in a field less than an hour southeast of Little Rock and were impressive enough to convince 19th-century Arkansans they were constructed by Toltecs from prehistoric Mexico – even as far into the 1970s, when research by Smithsonian’s Bureau of Ethnology revealed local Native American ancestors constructed mounds across America, with Mississippi Valley mound-building culture unique among all others.
At its visitor center, Arkansas State Parks’ visitors center provides an exhibit about past residents, which we now call Plum Bayou culture. One of the first modern substantive investigations was undertaken here under founding member Martha Rolingson for Arkansas Archeological Survey; since 1966 an Arkansas Archeological Survey-Parks Department team have shared ownership and operate from this research station at site.
Arkansas State Capitol
Arkansas State Capitol, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, features several memorials and statues including an Eternal Flame which was dedicated on July 11, 1969; Monument to Confederate Soldiers sponsored by Memorial Chapter of United Daughters of Confederacy; and Civil War Prisoners’ Marker situated southwest of the capitol.
Gideon Shryock of Lexington, Kentucky designed the capitol building. His task was to produce plans that could house all aspects of government including legislators, elected officials and Supreme Court justices as well as executive-branch offices and departments.
After the new Capitol was completed in 1912, state government moved from its previous building. Since the old capitol is now a museum, visitors should consider visiting it to experience where many pivotal moments in Arkansas history took place. Collections housed there include battle flags, inaugural gowns of governors, art pottery pieces and African-American quilts as well as rotating exhibits.
Little Rock National Cemetery
Just south of Little Rock’s State Capitol lies Arkansas’s largest National Cemetery: this 31.7-acre historic burial ground managed by Veterans Affairs is currently closed to new interments and features both the Minnesota Monument and Little Rock Confederate Memorials.
In 1866, a plot of land was purchased and used as a Union burial ground until its transformation into a National Cemetery in April. Later that same year, in 1913, Secretary of War accepted a deed from the city allowing a portion of it to become dedicated as a Confederate Cemetery with only Confederate soldiers being eligible to be interred there; later this restriction was lifted in 1938.
Each Memorial Day, this historic burial ground comes alive with patriotic spirit as 120 American flags are raised to form an Avenue of Flags as a somber reminder of all those who have made sacrifices and are interred here.
