University of Arkansas Press Book Digs into Old Washington’s Past

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – An uncommon view of an antebellum town in Arkansas is explored in the University of Arkansas Press’ Digging for History at Old Washington (cloth, $34.95) by Mary L. Kwas, with a Foreword by Jay S. Miller.

Positioned along the legendary Southwest Trail, the town of Washington in Hempstead County in southwest Arkansas was a thriving center of commerce, business and county government in the 19th century. Historical figures such as Davy Crockett and Sam Houston passed through, and during the Civil War, when the Federal troops occupied Little Rock, the Hempstead County Courthouse in Washington served as the seat of state government for Confederate Arkansas.

In 1831, Jim Bowie was passing through town and asked the local blacksmith if he could make him a knife based on his specifications. He did, and he made a second of his own design. Bowie preferred the blacksmith’s version and thus was born the “Bowie knife.”

A prosperous town fully involved in the events and society of the territorial, antebellum, Civil War and Reconstruction eras, Washington became in a way frozen in time by a series of events including two fires, a tornado and being bypassed by the railroad in 1874. It has been an Arkansas State Park and National Historic Landmark since 1973 and has been studied by the Arkansas Archeological Survey over the past 25 years.

In Digging for History at Old Washington, Kwas carefully connects artifact, archaeology and the historical record, drawing upon archaeological findings such as uncovered construction details, evidence of lost buildings, and remnants of everyday objects. Of particular interest are the homes of Abraham Block, a Jewish merchant originally from New Orleans, and Simon Sanders from North Carolina, who became the town’s county clerk. The public and private lives of the Block and Sanders families provide a fascinating look at an antebellum town at the height of its prosperity. The book is filled with over 80 images, most of which are in full color.

In his Foreword, Jay S. Miller, chief of interpretation for Arkansas State Parks, writes: “History, mystery almost solved, the separating of fact from fiction, and archeological discoveries will captivate you as they are revealed in the lives of Abraham Block and Simon Sanders. Their stories intertwine with the history of Washington, Arkansas, and that of the United States, as they all come of age on the Southwest Trail.”

Mary L. Kwas is a research associate for the Arkansas Archeological Survey and has worked for the survey since 1996. She is the recipient of the 2007 Presidential Recognition Award from the Society for American Archaeology.