Fort Smith Travel Guide

This is the second largest city in the U.S. State of Arkansas situated at the junction of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers which is also known as the Belle Point. Fort Smith began as a western frontier military post in 1817, and later went on to become renowned in the settling of the ‘Wild West’ and a remarkable law enforcement heritage. Blessed with an overwhelming historical heritage Fort Smith has many reasons to cheer about. It was selected as the location of the new U.S. Marshall Service National Museum by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2007. The recent success of the Oscar nominated Western film ‘True Grit’ set in and around historic Fort Smith in 1870s has also contributed to a surge in popularity of this border town.

Developed as the largest city in western Arkansas, Fort Smith has evolved as a regional manufacturing center with major plants like Whirlpool Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, Planters Peanuts and many others located here. Surrounded on three sides by the Arkansas River, It is a major transportation hub sitting at the crossroads of two major interstate highways also served by a major and other regional railroad companies, and a regional airport offering scheduled flights. Being part of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System, which is an inland waterway system, the Port of Fort Smith on the Arkansas River also plays an active part.

With a fair share of education, recreation and sports, Fort Smith is one of the most attractive destinations along the western front offering a great mix of the present and the past.