52 Weeks of Fun

Not Just Destination Finders, But Destination Storytellers

Fort Smith CVB

Clayton House

Standing regally in the Belle Grove Historic District, the Clayton House serves as a living history book of Fort Smith’s elegant Victorian period during the city’s frontier beginnings on the border of Indian Territory. The Italianate-style mansion also provides a perfect setting for weddings and private gatherings with its stately parlors and expansive grounds.

The Clayton House provides a step back to 1882, the year William Henry Harrison Clayton moved his family into the antebellum home that he doubled in size and shaped into an Italianate-style masterpiece. It has elaborate Victorian trim, including detailed window surrounds, paneled projecting bays on the front and side, a porch with carved columns and brackets, and delicately turned balusters ringing the porch roof. W. H. H. Clayton served as a local prosecutor and was a member of a family prominent in state politics and is one of the few high-quality houses of the period to survive. It now serves as a museum.

Coal-burning fireplaces and period furnishings in each room place you in a time that featured no indoor plumbing or electricity, but that was rich with austerity. The guided tour provides a perspective of the mission to bring law and justice to the area from the home of the chief prosecutor of the famous court of Judge Isaac C. Parker.

The Clayton House is maintained and operated by the nonprofit Fort Smith Heritage Foundation, which led its restoration after saving the home from demolition in 1969. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

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A 52 Weeks of Fun Fascinating Fact about Clayton House

Paranormal investigators are said to have found some hard evidence that supports the claims of hauntings reported by docents, repairmen, visitors, and tour participants.

Attraction Advice

Noon to 4:00 PM Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Sundays. The home is closed on Mondays, and appointments can be made for other hours. Guided tours start at the top of the hour and last approximately 50 minutes. A suggested donation for tours is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors (65 and over), and $3 for youth (ages six to 17). Children under six are free.



Trip Advisor

Some say that Judge Clayton’s office looks like he just stepped out, a credit to the authenticity of the decor.
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The Fort Smith Heritage Foundation assures that the antiques in the home are authentic to the period.
Fort Smith CVB

Visitors can take a guided tour of the home at the top of hour when the home is open.
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Winter snow paints a cozy picture of days gone by at the W.H.H. Clayton House.

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