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| Restoration
of the historic site was completed about three years
ago (2002). Included in the restoration is a small section
of the front gate seen in this picture in the left foreground
at the Garrison Avenue entrance to the site. |
The
site includes some Civil War era cannons. Live
fire demonstrations are given the first Saturday of
the month. Just noise, smoke and fire, no cannon balls
involved. In this picture is the gallows (the
white structure in the background). |
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on any image for a full-sized photo. Use your
browser's "Back" button to return to this
page. Pictured on the right is the north-west side of
Judge Parker's courthouse (left) and the "new"
jail wing (right). The view is from the railroad tracks
on the path to Belle Point looking towards Garrison
Avenue. At the time this photo was taken the site
was still undergoing restoration. |
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The
cell block of the "new" jail is partially
reconstructed to give visitors a feel for its size.
There were three tiers of four cells each. The
block was two cells wide by four cells long and three
tiers high. The cells were completely enclosed
within the jail building by metal grating . The picture
at lower left shows the lower tier of four cells on
the west side of the building. The open cell in the
middle of the picture was Cherokee Bill's cell when
he attempted his futile jail break. The metal
grating surrounding the cell block (only partially restored
to give a better view of the cells) gave added security.
The enclosed cell block was called the "bull pen."
The guards patrolled the cell block from outside the
bull pen. |
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Inside
the old jail. The tub was used for bathing. Buckets
by the fireplace (not seen here, just out of the photo
to the left) were used as toilets.
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Above is a photo of what
was the only entrance to the old jail (today you can
enter the jail from the National Park bookstore on
the south end of the wing). Just above the jail was
Judge Parker's courtroom. In the summertime
the stench from the jail filled the courtroom which
may explain why jury deliberations were usually short.
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The "new jail"
was a vast improvement over the old one beneath the
court room. The old jail was such a disgrace
that it was known as "Hell on the Border"
and Judge Parker and Fort Smith were vilified in the
press by its wretched conditions. Judge Parker
lobbied for years for a new jail before Congress finally
appropriated funds to build the new wing.
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| Judge
Parker's courtroom has been restored to the way it looked
when the federal court was held in this building. The
earlier version that was here was actually based on
the courtroom in the Federal building down the street.
That courthouse was built much later and used
by Parker only during the last few years of his life. |
Another
view of the original courtroom. The National Park Service
used great care in recreating the room from archeological
and historical evidence. The site is now as historically
accurate as possible. Many articles, including
Parker's law books, are the originals. Wall paper
and rugs were recreated using surviving samples of the
original materials. |
Entrance
to the park from the south side parking lot. In
the upper right of the picture is the courthouse
and jail. |
The
doorway in the upper right is the entrance to
the National Park book store and courthouse building |
A
visit to the National Historic Site makes a delightful
family day trip |
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