The Fort Smith Trolley Museum, Fort Smith, Arkansas

When you think about trolleys in the United States of America, you think about the big cities particularly the city of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California, a city that is famous for its trolleys.  Very few people would ever think of smaller cities like the city of Fort Smith in the U.S. state of Arkansas.  When you think of Arkansas, you think of its natural areas and not its urban areas of which there are very few with the state capital of Little Rock and the metropolitan area of Memphis in the U.S. state of Tennessee.  The city of Fort Smith is located in the western part of the state on the Arkansas River and across the river from the U.S. state of Oklahoma.

Some of you are saying, “Well, it is called Fort Smith, but there was never a fort here.  They just named the city Fort Smith.”

Well, you are absolutely wrong.  The city of Fort Smith, Arkansas is named after Fort Smith, and you can visit the fort as it is a National Historic Site that is owned and operated by the National Park Service.  Very few people think that trolleys ever ran here, but it was once a trolley town where trolleys ran on the streets.  That is why you have the Fort Trolley Museum.

What is the Fort Smith Trolley Museum?  It is a small museum that tells the history of trolleys in the city of Fort Smith.  Although there are very few trolleys on display here, there is a restoration shop.  The museum has artifacts to include work tools and old paintings, and, if you are fortunate enough, you can even take a trolley ride on one of the original tracks.

The Fort Smith Trolley Museum is located at 100 South Fourth Street in Fort Smith, Arkansas next to the Fort Smith Historical Park just blocks from U.S. Route 64 and the bridge crossing the Arkansas River.  You can read more about the history of the trolleys and get museum hours which vary throughout the year at https://www.fstm.org/.

The city of Fort Smith, Arkansas may be named for an old fort, but it was once a trolley town.  The Fort Smith Trolley Museum keeps the memory of Fort Smith Trolleys alive for many years to come.