Security fencing is on deck for former stagecoach site
SPRINGDALE — The most recent activity at Fitzgerald Station has focused on security for the 19th-century structures.
Fitzgerald Station, a large white house and rock barn on Old Wire Road in Springdale, is a former stagecoach stop and stood witness to several chapters of Northwest Arkansas history.
The NWA Trailblazers deeded the property to the city last summer. The Trailblazers built a parking lot and trailhead on the property to allow access to 10 miles of trails on the mountain above.
Allyn Lord considers fencing the most immediate need for the property. “With it secured, it will give us more leeway to take the next steps,” said Lord, who is the director of the city’s museum, the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.
The city planned to secure the station with the black fencing that also encloses its Police Department yard, Lord said. But the architectural firm Duvall Decker plans to use that fencing on the Criminal Justice Center, on which officials broke ground last month.
Lord is working to get estimates for the fencing, taking into consideration the type of fencing, how much is needed and the fact that some fencing will be recovered from the city administration building. Officials also must consider whether to enclose the entire property or just the historic house and barn.
The city has leased a modern house on the Fitzgerald site so the property does not sit empty, she said, and the city hopes to install security cameras on the property.
There have been a few windows broken in the old house since the city received the site.
“Once it’s secured, I’ll feel a lot more confident because it’s of such incredible historic value,” she said.
Then city leaders can start gathering suggestions for the property and support from descendants of the city’s founders, historians, neighbors and others.
The property is one of the earliest homesteads in Northwest Arkansas. In the late
1830s, it served as a popular inn and tavern for travelers on the route called Old Wire Road because the first telegraph wires were installed along that roadway.
Today, the site includes a stone barn, built by crews working for John Butterfield, who ran the stagecoach business.
It’s one of the few remaining historical sites in Springdale, said city councilman Mike Overton.
In 1837 and 1839, two detachments of Cherokee Indians on the Trail of Tears stopped at the site before entering Indian Territory. From 1856 to 1861, the site served as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Express. And from 1863 to 1864, Civil War soldiers from both armies passed the site on what then was known as the Military Road, and two skirmishes were recorded nearby.
Securing the property will allow several years for organizers to set goals and gather funds. A group will be organized to complete master and interpretive plans for the site, Lord said.
The site is part of the Walton Family Foundation’s Open Space Program, said Elizabeth Bowen of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. The program helps conserve natural landscapes that make the region an attractive place to live, according to the plan’s website.
“There are several ways of preserving a property, and donating the property is one of those wonderful ways,” Bowen said.