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-   -   Fort Smith, Arkansas: You knew it was coming!! (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156247)

kcexpress69 Aug 19, 2008 3:57 AM

Fort Smith, Arkansas: You knew it was coming!!
 
Fort Smith, Arkansas: Stop #7 on my trip


I spent quite a bit of time that day in Hot Springs, and I knew if I were to try to get everything I had planned to do, I had to get going!! So I raced my HHR westward along US 270, to US 71 and within a couple of hours, I made it to Fort Smith just in time for a little rush hour extravaganza!! But along the way, I had to appreciate the scenic beauty of the Ouachita Mountains. This a little bit crazy, but looking at the pine forests, it almost gave me a kind of a western feeling. Certainly not the rocky mountains of course, but just somewhere along the way!! Well, why don't you join me??

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Fort Smith lies along the Arkansas River right at the Oklahoma state line. At around 83,000, it is the second largest city in Arkansas, and it's growing moderately. I have to apologize in advance. I had about an hour to get this done so you won't find any neighborhood shots!! But I think you will like it. Being rush hour, the main street through town was extremely busy, almost as bad as Springfield, MO.
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Gas guzzler or not, I like the Chevy SSR!! End of story!!
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Nothing extraordinarily tall in Fort Smith, this is the tallest downtown!!
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UHHHHHH......At least it's being used!! Give it that much!!
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Right after I took the above picture, I walked across the street to take the picture below. And it finally happened!! I happened to be on government property and was confronted by a security guard as I was walking off!! Fortunately he turned out to be friendly, and as I told him who I was, where I was from, (I had a KC Royals shirt on), and the reason I was taking pictures, and of course the website I was representing, he actually gave me a few suggestions on some areas where I could shoot. He turned out to be a pretty nice guy. He was kind of suprised that someone cared enough to give his city some "national exposure" (if you want to call it that!!), I just enjoy doing it!!
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A small cluster
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Believe it or not, it had a streetcar!! However, the ride was only a couple of blocks long, and it was primarily just a tourist perk. This was the original streetcar.
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Simething hiding down there!! The bridge on the right takes you across the Arkansas River into Oklahoma.
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Looking back towards downtown
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There goes our buddies in the trolle.....wait a second!! Where's the cables?? It doesn't have wheels like that!! No tracks?? AAAUUUURRRGGGHH!!! It's a phoney!! I hate phonies!!!!
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A couple of black & whites if anybody cares!!
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Well, I was back to my car, and I had to get going. Rush hour was still quite a bit heavy and I didn't have a moment to lose!! I still had more places to shoot and most of the day was already spent. But it wasn't over yet......... Stay tuned!!

Thundertubs Aug 19, 2008 4:24 AM

The first time I ever used an internet cafe was years ago in... Fort Smith, Arkansas. I was almost exactly halfway on a long drive from New Jersey to Arizona. Thanks for shooting this one! I thought it was a neat little place.
Great road trip you got workin here. Do we perhaps have a little Tulsa on deck? Maybe even some Muskogee?

Top Of The Park Aug 19, 2008 6:36 AM

I didn't know

LMich Aug 19, 2008 8:03 AM

Fort Smith was one of the old gateways to the West. It's also at the very southern end of the Ozarks.

Great photos. It's much better than I'd imagined.

Evergrey Aug 19, 2008 9:54 AM

I always wanted to see Fort Smith.

flar Aug 19, 2008 10:43 AM

Not bad at all, thanks!

JackStraw Aug 19, 2008 4:38 PM

Them there ozarks look alot like parts of the Appalachains.

I see so many new towns through your thread. Great pics.

TinChelseaNYC Aug 19, 2008 4:47 PM

For some reason, I've always wondered about this city. Good pics. Fun road trip.

urbanactivist Aug 19, 2008 7:32 PM

Yeah, amazing road trip kc!! You're not leaving much of Arkansas to cover next time I go ;) Fort Smith is a nice little town, but it's been overshadowed heavily by Fayetteville b/c of UofA and all the corporations up there (Wal-Mart and Tyson just to name a few). It's definitely not booming like anything to the north, but good to see the town is making progress.

xzmattzx Aug 19, 2008 7:47 PM

Fort Smith doesn't look too bad. I was actually expecting worse, for some reason.

10101000 Aug 19, 2008 9:20 PM

Nice

stepper77 Aug 19, 2008 9:24 PM

I drove through (or by) Fort Smith a few years ago on the way to Tennessee from California. What little I could see seemed nice and it always stuck in my mind. Thank you so very much for taking these photos!!

oldmanshirt Aug 19, 2008 9:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcexpress69 (Post 3743991)
UHHHHHH......At least it's being used!! Give it that much!!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/...fee1eeb7_b.jpg

And the sign on the side of the building makes it all the more ironic :haha:

Thanks for the pictures!

skyline Aug 20, 2008 5:23 PM

Man, that building in the above post!! WOW!! I just ate lunch, hope it doesn't come back up....Holy Smoke!
Nice rest of the city though! Love the Mountain pic!

Hozay Aug 20, 2008 11:36 PM

Another excellent tour :tup:

BG918 Aug 21, 2008 7:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LMich (Post 3744253)
Fort Smith was one of the old gateways to the West. It's also at the very southern end of the Ozarks.

Great photos. It's much better than I'd imagined.

Hence the name Fort Smith, it was one of the frontier forts at the edge of what was then the western frontier. It's in the narrow Arkansas River valley in between the Ozark Mountains to the north and the Ouachita Mountains to the south. The Ouachita's are very similar to the southern Appalachians. I go hiking and mountain biking over there at least once a year, it's only about a 2 hour drive from OKC. Nice pics!

Jularc Aug 21, 2008 10:27 PM

First time I see anything from Arkansas. Looks ok. I like the older architecture.

kcexpress69 Aug 23, 2008 3:33 AM

Thanks for all the comments everyone!! Doing Arkansas has been a real pleasure. I have been trying to get places that haven't been covered on this webpage and Arkansas seems to have quite a few places worth a picture thread. I may have to do a second trip some time next year or so to get places that I wasn't able to cover on this trip. :D

photoLith Nov 16, 2008 8:49 PM

Thats freakin crazy awesome that they have a streetcar. I had no idea and it looks like downtown is doing pretty good for itself. Ill have to drive over there someday. I only live like 60 miles but I always go to Little Rock instead.

LSyd Nov 17, 2008 7:58 PM

interesting. the surprising amount of old stock makes me wish i'd stopped to photograph it when i drove by.

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