Commissary & Frisco Overlook

Commissary & Frisco Overlook

NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

East side of Commissary

Amenities

3 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Trash/Litter Receptacles, Wheelchair Accessible

These two buildings represent changes in transporting goods, supplies, and people.

Fort Smith was instrumental in shipping supplies further west using wagons. Each wagon could carry up to 2000 pounds, needing six mules for each. In the late 1860s, the expansion of the railroads meant shipping supplies became more efficient and less expensive. As a result, Fort Smith was no longer needed and closed in 1871.

Built in 1903 by the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway, the station was an imposing Missouri ashlar limestone structure with a two-story colonnade in front. The ten ornate columns, standard of the Classical Revival style, gave way to a grand entrance. The side entrance was for an excluded class of society - a group of people labeled “colored.” Fort Smith was no different from the rest of the South where segregation was legislated between blacks and whites in public places.

The Frisco Train Depot remained in operation through the early 1950s.