HISTORIC WASHINGTON STATE PARK -- Gold and yellow are cousins on the color spectrum. That kinship adds an extra glow to this weekend's golden anniversary celebrating the mainly yellow-hued blooms at Historic Washington State Park's popular Jonquil Festival.
The countless jonquils are the park's top draw Friday through Sunday. But visitors to the 50th annual festivities can also enjoy some of the year-round sights and activities that make Historic Washington one of Arkansas' most evocative living-history sites.
When the first Jonquil Festival took place here in 1969, the settlement that had served as Confederate state capital for the last part of the Civil War was not yet a state park. Bypassed by railroads in the late 19th century, the community had lost its role as Hempstead County seat to Hope in 1939. From more than 700 residents in 1880, its population had dwindled to about 300.
But local activists in 1958 formed the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation to preserve the town's aging structures. The foundation played a part in creating the Jonquil Festival, before donating the site in 1973 to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism as our 34th state park. Its 101 acres contain 54 vintage buildings, 30 of which are deemed significant by the National Register of Historic Places.
In the festival's early years, organizers would order jonquils from florists and garden stores to ensure adequate numbers of flowers on display. Now the park grows ample jonquils of its own. (And in case you wondered, "jonquil" refers to a specific type of daffodil known as "Narcissus jonquilla," although "jonquil" and "daffodil" are sometimes used interchangeably.)
Along with admiring the floral arrays, this weekend's visitors can enjoy arts, crafts, food and music -- along with tours of 10 or so historic buildings conducted by staff members in period dress. The high-spirited guides focus on early-days residents, such as John D. Trimble, who built the comfortably furnished Trimble House later occupied by several generations of his family.
At Morrison Tavern Inn, the reconstruction of a mid-19th-century hostelry, tourists are told that a lodging like this quite probably bedded down the likes of Sam Houston, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett taking the Southwest Trail to Texas.
A highlight of Historic Washington is the original Hempstead County courthouse, built in 1836 at a cost of $1,850. Before the Civil War, it was the venue for circuit court sessions, hosted meetings of the Freemasons and held the office of the county clerk. From 1863 until the Confederacy's defeat two years later, while Washington functioned as the Confederate state capital, several special sessions of the secessionist General Assembly took place here.
While admiring the jonquils and antique buildings, this weekend's visitors can also enjoy what a park brochure lauds as "streets bordered with catalpa, magnolia and other ornamental trees which have shaded the community for 150 years." The trees, including a 179-year-old magnolia certified as the state's largest, offer "a taste of the peace and beauty of southwest Arkansas."
Historic Washington State Park's Jonquil Festival takes place from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the grounds is free. Visits to buildings staffed by guides cost $9 ($5 for kids 6-12) for a full tour, $6 ($3 for kids 6-12) for a sampler tour. A surrey ride is $8 ($4 for kids 6-12). Williams Tavern Restaurant is open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. daily.
For details, visit historicwashingtonstatepark.com or call (870) 983-2684.
Weekend on 03/15/2018