Legends Of Ghosts Haunt Historic Washington State Park

Historic Washington State Park is one of America's first villages, founded in 1824 and a stop for people traveling across the southern United States.

Billy Nations is the Park Interpreter, he says, ?If anyone was notable that day in time and they were going overland, lets say St. Louis to Texas this was the route that you took." It's also the site of the confederate capitol of Arkansas where legislation took place from 1863 to 1865.

Nations says, ?They attempted to preserve some threads of the fabrics of the rule of law by enacting legislation that made burglary a death penalty, robbery death penalty, horse stealing death penalty.?

Faded tombstones mark inmates' final resting places. Nations says, ?The Pioneer Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Washington and its first internment was in the 1820's.

Legend has it ghosts roam Washington State Park. Larry Stephens converted the Hempstead County jail into a bed and breakfast in 1980.

Stephens says, "Since it was a jail for about 75-years, we knew that we do have ghost in here and some of our guests are more sensitive to these ghosts." Names of former inmates are still etched in the two-feet thick walls.

Stephens says, I've had some instances where things have been moved around on me. We had a group called The Spirit Seekers here and they have equipment where they sense the ghost and they found proof.?

So visit Historic Washington State Park and be amazed by Arkansas all over again.