Washington County is a regional economic, educational, and cultural hub in the Northwest Arkansas region. Created as Arkansas's 17th county on November 30, 1848, Washington County has 13 incorporated municipalities, including Fayetteville, the county seat, and Springdale. The county is also the site of small towns, bedroom communities, and unincorporated places. The county is named for George Washington, the first President of the United States. Located within the Ozark Mountains, the county is roughly divided into two halves: the rolling Springfield Plateau in the more populous north of the county and the steeper, forested Boston Mountains in the much less populated south. It contains three segments of the Ozark National Forest, two state parks, two Wildlife Management Areas, the Garrett Hollow Natural Area, and dozens of city parks. Other historical features such as Civil War battlefields, log cabins, one-room school houses, community centers, and museums describe the history and culture of Washington County. Washington County occupies 951.72 square miles and contained a population of 245,871 people in 89,249 households as of the 2020 Census, ranking it 4th in size and 3rd in population among the state's 75 counties. The economy is largely based on the business/management, education, sales, office/administration, and poultry production industries. Poverty rates, median household income, and unemployment rates best state averages, but lag national trends. Washington County has long had a reputation for education in the state. The University of Arkansas, the largest four-year college in the state, was established in Fayetteville in 1871. A Washington County campus of the Northwest Arkansas Community College was opened in 2019 in Springdale. Today, Washington County contains eight public school districts, including two of the largest districts in the state and two private schools. It is included in the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Springdale is the fourth-most populous city in Arkansas, United States. It is located in both Washington and Benton counties in Northwest Arkansas. Located on the Springfield Plateau deep in the Ozark Mountains, Springdale has long been an important industrial city for the region. In addition to several trucking companies, the city is home to the world headquarters of Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producing company. Originally named Shiloh, the city changed its name to Springdale when applying for a post office in 1872. It is included in the four-county Northwest Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is ranked 102nd in terms of population in the United States with 546,725 in 2020 according to the United States Census Bureau. The city had a population of 84,161 at the 2020 census.
Fayetteville is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city had a population of 93,949 as of the 2020 census, which was estimated to have increased to 101,680 by 2023. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, within the Ozarks. It was named after Fayetteville, Tennessee, from which many settlers had come, and was incorporated on November 3, 1836. Fayetteville is included in the three-county Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers metropolitan statistical area, with 576,403 residents in 2020.
Butterfield Overland Mail was a stagecoach service in the United States operating from 1858 to 1861. It carried passengers and U.S. Mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California. The routes from each eastern terminus met at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and then continued through Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Mexico, and California ending in San Francisco. On March 3, 1857, Congress authorized the U.S. postmaster general, at that time Aaron V. Brown, to contract for delivery of the U.S. mail from St. Louis to San Francisco. Prior to this, U.S. Mail bound for the Far West had been delivered by the San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line since June 1857.
Arkansas Highway 22 is an east–west state highway in the Arkansas River Valley. The route runs 75.60 miles (121.67 km) from US 64 in Fort Smith east to Highway 7 in Dardanelle. Following the historic stagecoach line of the cross-country Butterfield Trail, the route is one of the original 1926 state highways. It is designated by the AHTD as the True Grit Trail.
Arkansas Highway 180 is a state highway in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The route, officially known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, runs 1.723 miles (2.773 km) from Interstate 49 (I-49) east to School Avenue. Highway 180 is designated as part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail as well as Arkansas Heritage Trails System designations as the Butterfield Trail, Trail of Tears, and Civil War Trails.
The Old Wire Road is a historic road in Missouri and Arkansas. Several local roads are still known by this name. It followed an old Native American route, the Great Osage Trail across the Ozarks and became a road along a telegraph line from St. Louis, Missouri, to Fort Smith, Arkansas. This route was also used by the Butterfield Overland Mail. It was known simply as the "Wire Road" while the telegraph line was up, but when the line was later removed, it became known as the "Old Wire Road". In St. Louis, where the road begins at Jefferson Barracks, it is called Telegraph Road. From St. Louis to Springfield, Missouri, it became designated Route 14 which, in turn, later became U.S. Route 66 and still later Interstate 44.
Highway 156 is a designation for three east–west state highways in Washington County, Arkansas. The first segment was created in 1937, with two more created in 1973. All are minor state highways established to provide system connectivity and are maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT).
Arkansas Highway 265 is a designation for three state highways in Northwest Arkansas. The southern segment of 19.70 miles (31.70 km) runs from Highway 170 near Strickler north to Interstate 49 (I-49) in Fayetteville. A second segment runs from Highway 16 in Fayetteville north to Highway 94 in Rogers. Further north, a third segment of 3.324 miles (5.349 km) runs from Highway 94 in Pea Ridge north to the Missouri state line. The highways are maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT).
Warner's Ranch, near Warner Springs, California, was notable as a way station for large numbers of emigrants on the Southern Emigrant Trail from 1849 to 1861, as it was a stop on both the Gila River Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line (1859-1861). It was also operated as a pioneering cattle ranch.
The Hollenberg Pony Express Station, also known as Cottonwood Pony Express Station, is the most intact surviving station of the Pony Express in the United States. It was built by Gerat H. Hollenberg in 1858, to serve travelers on the Oregon and California Trails, and was used by the Pony Express when it was established in 1860. The station is owned by the state of Kansas and is operated by the Kansas Historical Society as Hollenberg Pony Express Station State Historic Site. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
The Boston Mountains Scenic Loop is one of ten Arkansas Scenic Byways. There are two different paths that constitute the loop, Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 71.
The Butterfield Overland Mail in Arkansas and Missouri was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until March 30, 1861. The route that was operated extended from San Francisco, California to Los Angeles, then across the Colorado Desert to Fort Yuma, then across New Mexico Territory via, Tucson and Mesilla, New Mexico to Franklin, Texas, midpoint on the route. The route then crossed Texas to the Red River and into Indian Territory to enter Arkansas at Fort Smith. Fort Smith was terminal where the secondary route that crossed Arkansas and across the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee, met the main route that led northeast to Tipton with the final leg by train via the Pacific Railroad to St. Louis. The Arkansas and Missouri mail route was one division, the 8th under a superintendent.
Hogeye is an unincorporated community in Valley Township, Washington County, Arkansas, United States. It is located on Arkansas Highway 265 and Arkansas Highway 156.
The Butterfield Overland Mail Route Fayetteville Segments Historic District is an area of 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) in Lake Fayetteville Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas which preserves an original routing of the Butterfield Overland Mail route through Northwest Arkansas. The trail and surrounding area became listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2009 and is being explored as an addition to the National Historic Trails System upon signing of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009.
Mud Spring, formerly called Aquaje Lodoso, is a spring and historic site in the western Antelope Valley, within northern Los Angeles County, southern California.
The Butterfield Overland Mail Route Segment is a stretch of historic roadway in Washington and Crawford counties in northwestern Arkansas. It consists of more than 13 miles (21 km) of adjoining sections of Bugscuffle and Old Cove City Roads that were once part of the major north–south route between Fayetteville and Van Buren, which are documented to have existed since 1839. The roadway is still a dirt road, about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide. It was historically used by the Butterfield Overland Mail service between 1858 and 1861.
The Butterfield Overland Mail Route Lee Creek Road Segment is a historic stretch of road in Crawford County, Arkansas. It is a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) segment of Lee Creek Road, which diverges from Arkansas Highway 220 north of Cedarville. This road section appears to closely follow the original alignment of the main road in the region in 1839, which connected Fayetteville and Van Buren. This road was used by the Butterfield Overland Mail service between 1858 and 1861. It is a gravel roadway about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, with several deeply-cut sections.
The Butterfield Overland Mail Route Lucian Wood Road Segment is a historic stretch of road in Crawford County, Arkansas. It is a 3-mile (4.8 km) segment of Lucian Wood Road, extending northward from a junction with Armer Lane in Cedarville. This road section appears to closely follow the original alignment of the main road in the region in 1839, which connected Fayetteville and Van Buren. This road was used by the Butterfield Overland Mail service between 1858 and 1861, along what was described as one that route's roughest sections. It is now an improved and graded gravel roadway about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, with several deeply-cut sections.
The Northwest Arkansas Razorback Regional Greenway is a 40 miles (64 km) primarily off-road shared-use trail in Northwest Arkansas. Dedicated on May 2, 2015, the Greenway connects Kessler Mountain Regional Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas to north of Lake Bella Vista in Bella Vista, Arkansas, while also serving schools, businesses and other cultural amenities along the route. In 2023 the Greenway was designated as a National Recreation Trail and was added to the National Trail System.
