FORT SMITH (KFSM) – The city of Fort Smith will be celebrating its 200th birthday by having a yearlong party.
Starting on Monday (April 10), you can also buy a little bit of history as the city will start selling its bicentennial books.
The city will come alive in Fort Smith’s bicentennial. The book is called “Bridging Borders and Time: A Bicentennial Portrait of Fort Smith.” There are 248 pages of rich, Fort Smith history with hundreds of colorful pictures capturing the bustling town it is today as well as rare historic photos from Fort Smith’s wild west era. It all began when U.S. Army troops landed at Belle Point on Christmas Day in 1817, which is when the city of Fort Smith was founded.
City leaders said they hope the bicentennial celebrations will attract not only locals, but people from all over as well.
“We just want to place a piece of history into people’s hands,” said Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders. “We’ve already had some people say they’re buying it for our grandkids to give it to them for Christmas.”
The book is on sale for $39.90 on the city's bicentennial website. The price includes shipping. There people can also find other souvenir items to buy such as ball caps, T-shirts, and Christmas ornaments.
“The book itself will be delivered in October so people need to get their orders in by mid-July," Sanders said.
A limited quantity of these books will be published, so city leaders said to act quickly if you're interested.