Queen Wilhelmina State Park is a unit of Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism in the

Ouachita Mountains The Ouachita Mountains (), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thru ...

. The original "Castle in the Sky" lodge was built in 1898 on 2,681-foot Rich Mountain, in

Polk County, Arkansas Polk County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,221. The county seat is Mena, Arkansas, Mena. Polk County is Arkansas's 48th county, ...

. The park is on Talimena Scenic Drive — northwest of

Mena, Arkansas Mena ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Polk County, Arkansas, Polk County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 5,558 as of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. Mena is included in the Ark-La-Tex socio-economic region. Surro ...

and east of the

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

state line. It is the only lodge open on the 235 mile Ouachita Trail. It is located on Arkansas’ second highest peak, Rich Mountain. The lodge has 40 guest rooms, a restaurant, a lobby and meeting room. The campground and trails remained open during the renovation. The park is one of the park system's eight mountain parks.

History

The original lodge was built by the

Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad The Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad was a railway company that began operations in the 1890s and owned a main-line between Kansas City, Missouri, and Port Arthur, Texas. It was led by Arthur Stilwell before being thrown into receiversh ...

to house passengers. Many of the railroad's investors were Dutch, so the lodge was named to honor Queen Wilhelmina of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, who was to be crowned in September 1898. Grand opening of the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

lodge was June 22, 1898. Wilhelmina Inn was soon nicknamed the "Castle in the Sky." The KCPG railroad faced financial problems, and was sold to what later became the

Kansas City Southern Railway The Kansas City Southern Railway Company is an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operated in 10 Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ark ...

. The original inn fell into disrepair, and permanently closed in 1910. Interest in tourism rose after World War II. State Act 76 of 1957 created Queen Wilhelmina State Park. A new lodge was built and opened June 22, 1963. It used some of the original rock work. It operated 10 years, until a Nov. 10, 1973 kitchen fire spread and destroyed the lodge. There was no loss of life in the fire. The park ranger notified the guests that there had been a fire and that they needed to evacuate as a precaution which saved a panic amongst the guests. The only thing left standing by the morning light was the rock walls. Construction soon began on the site's third lodge. The $3 million lodge, re-opened in 1975. The refurbished lodge reopened in 2015.

References

External links

* {{authority control State parks of the U.S. Interior Highlands State parks of Arkansas Protected areas of Polk County, Arkansas Protected areas established in 1957 1957 establishments in Arkansas

History

See also

References

External links