Last updated: July 20, 2026
Place
Commissary & Frisco Overlook
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
East side of the Commissary building
Amenities
3 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Trash/Litter Receptacles, Wheelchair Accessible
These two buildings, visible from the overlook, represent changes in the transportation of goods, supplies, and people.
Commissary Building
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.
Frisco Train Depot
Built in 1903, the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Fort Smith Depot (Frisco Train Depot) 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.