Grab your passport and head to Hempstead
Hempstead County turns 200 years old this year, and the Hempstead County Bicentennial Committee has been organizing ways to celebrate.
A passport program the committee recently announced identifies 20 locations in Hempstead County where people can get a special stamp for a passport. Each passport contains directions to the various stamping stations. Stamps are typically located outside in a container. People can also snap a selfie at the location to show they were there.
Josh Williams, curator at Historic Washington State Park and a committee member, said the idea is to promote awareness and encourage people to visit different areas across the county.
Stamping stations are located at courthouse sites, museums, recreational areas and various communities across Hempstead. It’s similar to programs that encouraged visits to the nation’s national parks and Arkansas Civil War sites.
“This is kind of a way to do that for our county,” Williams said.
After visitors collect all 20 stamps, they
then send a card to the HopeHempstead County Chamber of Commerce. The chamber will then send the visitors a commemorative coin.
Having been formed in 1818, Hempstead County is part of some interesting history. What was called the Arkansas Territory didn’t form until 1819, so Hempstead was at first part of the Missouri Territory. But as part of Arkansas, it has a significant role.
“It was in the original five counties that made up Arkansas Territory,” Williams said.
At one time, Hempstead County stretched from where El Dorado is located all the way to where Bowie and Cass counties are now and up to the Mena, Ark., area, Williams explained, meaning it had part of Northeast Texas and Southeast Oklahoma in it. “But that changed not long after it was formed.”
The passport stations include 13 sites at the various county townships, such as the Post Office at Fulton. “On top of that, they have to visit every courthouse site for the county, which are four different sites,” Williams said of locations passport holders will visit.
Passports can be acquired at these places: Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce, President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site, Rick Evans Grandview Prairie Conservation Education Center, Historic Washington State Park, Hempstead County clerk’s office, Farmers Bank & Trust, BancorpSouth, Diamond State Bank, First National Bank of Tom Bean, Tailgaters Burger Co., Hope Visitor Center and Fair Park.
Hempstead County’s birthday is Dec. 15 and the passport program runs through the end of the year. The committee also encourages people to post photos on Facebook with the tag #Hempstead200.
“Anyone can do it. It doesn’t have to be just a Hempstead County resident,” Williams said.
(More info: Hempstead200.com or email hempstead200@gmail. com. There’s also a Hempstead County Bicentennial page on Facebook.)