Landmarks & Historic Sites
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Arkansas’ Landmarks and Historic Sites
From prehistoric cultures to frontier life, Civil War battlegrounds to civil rights milestones, Arkansas is rich with places that tell America’s story. Explore landmarks and historic sites in Arkansas that shaped the state and the nation.
Arkansas’ history stretches from ancient cultures to pivotal moments in modern America, and its landmarks offer a chance to walk through every chapter. In Little Rock, sites like the Old State House Museum and Historic Arkansas Museum give visitors a glimpse into the state’s early political and frontier eras as they walk through preserved buildings, hands-on exhibits and immersive storytelling.
Across the state, there are entire towns and landscapes that reveal what daily life was like throughout Arkansas’ history. Historic Washington State Park transports visitors straight to the 19th century in a preserved community, where they can experience historical reenactments and period-accurate craftsmanship.
Even further back in time, Parkin Archeological State Park protects a Mississippian-era Native American village and offers a deeper look into Arkansas’ earliest civilizations.
Other sites showcase defining moments of the 20th century. At the Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center, visitors can reflect on the experiences of Japanese Americans forcibly relocated during World War II.
In Hot Springs, Bathhouse Row stands as a national historic landmark district, capturing the elegance, architecture and spa culture that made the city famous. However you explore, historic sites in Arkansas connect you to the people and stories that shaped The Natural State.
Museums & Sites
Old State House Museum
The Old State House Museum is the original state capitol building of Arkansas and the oldest standing state capitol building west of the Mississippi River.
Historic Arkansas Museum
Historic Arkansas Museum is home to a historic city block including the oldest building in Little Rock, an 1850s Farmstead, galleries of Arkansas Made art and history ranging from indigenous Arkansans to contemporary artists and artisans.
Parkin Archeological State Park
This National Historic Landmark preserves a 17-acre Mississippian-period American Indian village located here from A.D. 1000 to 1550.
Historic Washington State Park
An important stop on the Southwest Trail, James Bowie, Sam Houston and Davy Crockett famously traveled through here. James Black, a local blacksmith, actually forged the legendary Bowie knife.
Powhatan Historic State Park
The uniqueness of this park is in its preservation: all six historic buildings stand in their original 19th-century locations.
Bathhouse Row, Hot Springs National Park
Bathhouse Row is a place to stroll and enjoy the beautiful architecture of the bathhouse buildings in Hot Springs.
Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery
Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery in Desha County, Arkansas, is one of only three extant Japanese American confinement site cemeteries in the United States.
World War II Japanese American Internment Museum
The World War II Japanese American Internment Museum at McGehee focuses on the camps at Rohwer and Jerome. Since very little of the original camp remains today, a trip through the museum offers the necessary background for a site visit.
