I wanted to show you a little about the fun we had last weekend. We returned to Jefferson, TX for the Outlaw Nationals Rod Run and Antique Car Show. If you've read my blog for very long, you remember Jefferson, TX. A wonderful small historic town. If you want to read about more about the town look down the left sidebar until you see a list of topics I've blogged about. Look for Jefferson, TX and there are about five post you can read.
And lastly, we saw the largest Magnolia tree in Arkansas. And let me tell you, pictures do not really show just how huge it is. This is a center trunk, it's enormous.
We met up early Friday morning. There were five vehicles in our group. Ours is the red one, a 1940 Ford pickup.
We drove the old highways and stayed off the interstate. It was a great trip. Lots more to see. To take a break we stopped by Historic Washington State Park. Maybe I'll be tour guide again for just a moment. Washington is a quaint, 19th-century museum village of restored homes and public buildings.
On February 14, 1820, Washington was authorized for a post office. That facility remains the oldest continuous postal operation west of the Mississippi River.
Washington became a town on George Washington's birthday, February 22, 1824.
During the 1820s and 1830s, Washington was a stopover for travelers going to Texas.
It was Arkansas' Confederate Capital after the fall of Little Rock in September 1863 to Union forces.
(thank you to Wikipedia for all the above information)
I was standing talking to the other wives, when I looked over and saw this great reflection of our truck in the black truck that it was sitting next to. If you look right behind the tail gate of our truck you can see me taking this picture.
On February 14, 1820, Washington was authorized for a post office. That facility remains the oldest continuous postal operation west of the Mississippi River.
Washington became a town on George Washington's birthday, February 22, 1824.
During the 1820s and 1830s, Washington was a stopover for travelers going to Texas.
It was Arkansas' Confederate Capital after the fall of Little Rock in September 1863 to Union forces.
(thank you to Wikipedia for all the above information)
I'll just show you a little bit of the town. We ate a wonderful lunch at Williams' Tavern Restaurant, a restored 1832 tavern. It had wonderful, old worn large plank floors. Lots of traffic had been in this tavern!
The 1874 courthouse serves as the visitor center for the park. It's a really neat building with a red copula and ironwork on top of that.
Across the street from the courthouse is the Methodist Church which is the oldest church of that denomination in Arkansas.
Washington is where James Black forged an original Bowie knife for Jim Bowie. They have recreated the historic blacksmith shop which displays the Bowie knives. It's a working blacksmith shop and they teach knife making. 
There's also the restored Nashville High school. The 1914 Washington School is now used for overnight accommodations and as a rental facility. I just had to throw in a picture of our truck one more time!
Behind one of the houses is a heritage vegetable garden which has vegetables like the early homesteaders would have planted. The garden is completely fenced in. It reminded me of Peter Rabbit and Mr.McGregor's garden.
I can just see Peter Rabbit slipping under the garden gate.
Then the gigantic branches have dropped to the ground and rooted. It's like standing under an umbrella of Magnolia leaves and branches.
This picture of Mr. H walking gives you a little sense of how big it is. Honestly this is all one tree. If you look you can see an area right behind Mr. H that's indented some. That's where you can go into the tree to see the trunk. Truly astounding!! Look how little he is. Notice the barrier in the road, this one happens to have fallen down, but they have had to close the road because the tree has grown almost across it!!
And then we were on the road again. I'll be back with shots from the car show and a few highlights of Jefferson.
I am amazed at the size of the tree. I may have to go see it myself. I know that you had a great time. I am glad you took the old highway. You can always see more. I loved the old garden. He looked so great. You always have a way with words that makes all the pictures come alive.
ReplyDeleteLooks like your guys picked a great place to stop! That tree is impressive. I would love to see it someday. My favorite picture in this post would have to be the reflection of daddy's truck in his buddy's truck. You have gained quite a talent for photography!
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