Murder and Mayhem Trolley Tour

The popular “Murder and Mayhem Trolley” departs the Fort Smith Museum of History, 320 Rogers Avenue, each Thursday, Friday and Saturday October 21-31, 2010.  The trolley tour will run Thursdays at 7:00 p. m. and 8:00 p. m. and Fridays, Saturdays and Halloween at 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 p. m.

Fort Smith, Arkansas, the home of the “Hanging Judge,” Isaac C. Parker was once known as “Hell on the Border.”  This rough and rowdy border town was the jumping off place into Indian Territory for outlaws, bandits and renegades.  As the trolley winds its way through the Belle Grove Historic District, riders thrill to gruesome historic facts and eerie local legends.  Skeletons are rattled in the closets of the Victorian residents of the Belle Grove Historic District.  Real haunted houses are pointed out and their dark secrets revealed.  Murder stories are related along with the story of a bloody love triangle. 

During its checkered past, prostitution was legal in Fort Smith.  The first bordello to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places serves as the Fort Smith Visitor’s Center.  Blythe spirits and a variety of characters from the past will keep you entertained including stories from the National Historic Site, Miss Laura’s Visitor’s Center, the Clayton House and Garrison Avenue, all located within downtown and the Belle Grove Historic District.

The narrative is as colorful as Fort Smith’s History.  It is not recommended for children under thirteen.  Trolley tickets are $12.00 per person.  Reservations are recommended.  Call the museum at 479-783-7841 for information and reservations.  All proceeds benefit the Fort Smith Museum of History.  Come for a ride on the haunted trolley during the museum’s centennial celebration.