Life at a "Swell's" pace

May 12- Along with our Crater of Diamonds and visit to the boyhood home of Bill Clinton, we fit in a visit to Old Washington State Park. My family is pretty active in the civil war reenactment and Old Washington is one place they visit quite frequently. The town is modern day living, but has kept the theme of the old pioneer days. The employees dress in pioneer days-type apparel and keep the theme going for visitors year-round. It's a great feeling to be able to walk the same grounds as pioneers did at one time. Some of the buildings are still intact as they were back then.

The county courthouse is now the visitor center. It was home to the second courthouse and trials and convictions were actually sought inside the building. As you can see from the sign above, the courthouse is dated 1847 and was part of Hempstead County of Arkansas.

I just love old studies, especially ones that have a history.

My brother, Will, acting out the role of a Union solider-General Grant, to be exact.

The original courthouse was the first building on these grounds to receive state funds in 1929.

The Old Washington Jail Bed and Breakfast.

Purdom House.

Block-Catts House.

Royston Log House.

The Mauney House was seen on our way to Old Washington, but I couldn't help but throw it into the history here. (There were two plots of land across the main diamond-bearing formation. The Millard M. Mauney family owned forty acres. At left is a picture of the Mauney house as it stands today along the road between Murfreesboro and the Crater. It was built by Isaac White before Arkansas entered the union. The home was rebuilt by Walter J. Mauney in 1911, just after the diamond strike. The walls are painted with murals depicting, among other things, Huddleston finding the first diamond. An unfinished oak tree trunk stands as a central column from the ground to the ceiling of the first story. It's an eccentric little place, unfortunately not open for public tours. You can, however, peek in the first floor windows at the murals on the opposite walls.)-Source

Planted in 1839, it is the largest Magnolia Tree in Arkansas.

Pioneer Cemetery. My brother told me that during their civil war reenactments they would group up in their civil war clothing and walk to the cemetery with period lanterns and give honor to those that have passed away.

This building was home to Washington High School up until 1914. The school was restored to its previous glory and it was dedicated in 2003.

The original blacksmith shop still on the grounds.

Goodlett Cotton Gin.

Candle Shop.

Old Washington Post Office.

Washington Fire Station.

I fell in love with this payphone and bench. Pretty sure they didn't have either one of these back in the heyday of Washington, Arkansas, but I still loved seeing them along the main street of Old Washington.

Uniform History Museum.

Morrison Tavern.

Sander's House and Farmstead.

Old shack on the grounds.

Old Washington State Park is a wonderful place to go back in history. It's located in Washington, Arkansas, near Hope. It has a lot of great events happening throughout the year and offers a glimpse at what it was like to live like a pioneer or solider.

Road Trip: Arkansas (Crater of Diamonds and Birthplace of William Jefferson Clinton)

Road Trip: Arkansas (Lake Fort Smith and Train Ride)

Road Trip: Arkansas (Fort Smith and Trolley Museum)

Road Trip: Arkansas (Out and about in Little Rock)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Mother's Day and Vista Trail)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Birthday Surprise)

What happened this time last year?

May 12-We visited the Crater of Diamonds State Park and the birthplace home of former President William Jefferson while in Arkansas on our visit. My sister had her third grade class out at the diamond pit and we were able to spend some time with her while we were there. We didn't find any diamonds, but we did get a lot of great stones to take back to Oregon. The Bean found himself a large agate, too. We had a great time spending the day with my brother while everyone else was at work. He took us to see a lot of great places and we couldn't have asked for better weather to get out and about.

We ended up gathering up some much-needed supplies to do some heavy duty digging in the diamond crater.

The original mine still sits on the property.

We broke apart rocks and stones hunting for even a small piece of a diamond...

The signs of past finds are around the crater area pushing you along to keep looking.

Still looking...

We ended up finding a lot of great stones, agates, and some lamproite, but no diamonds.

The Bean found a big agate and was pretty stoked about it.

We cleaned off our shoes and decided to call it a day.

Our finds were interesting and we brought them back to Oregon with us. We ended up digging up Jasper (smooth stones), Sandstone (gritty stones), Volcanic Tuft (green stones), Lamporite (black speckled stones), Jasper infused with iron (conglomerate stones). Special thanks to Tera Teague for helping us sort out what stones we found.

The Crater of Diamonds State Park is a fun spot to spend the day. It's located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, and offers a great experience in the way mining was done in Arkansas.

After the Crater of Diamonds we headed to the birthplace of former President William Jefferson Clinton in Hope, Arkansas.

We loved visiting the birthplace of Bill Clinton because we finally got to stamp off one of our National Park visits in our passport book.

Great visit to the Crater of Diamonds and to Hope, Arkansas, to see the birthplace of Bill Clinton. Arkansas has a lot to offer and these two places are definitely worth the visit.

Road Trip: Arkansas (Lake Fort Smith and Train Ride)

Road Trip: Arkansas (Fort Smith and Trolley Museum)

Road Trip: Arkansas (Out and about in Little Rock)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Mother's Day and Vista Trail)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Birthday Surprise)

What happened this time last year?