John Fitzgerald Sr. (1783-1875) and his wife Mary (1794-ca.1865) moved their family from Alabama to Washington County, Arkansas sometime between 1828 and 1833, settling on a farm northeast of present-day Springdale. The Fitzgerald property was located alongside what was then known as the Military Road, which ran from Springfield, Missouri to Fort Smith, Arkansas. The Fitzgeralds took advantage of their location by establishing an inn and tavern on their farm; by the late 1830s it was a well-known stop for travelers.

When the Butterfield stage line ran through Northwest Arkansas as part of the route from Tipton, Missouri to San Francisco (1858-1861), Fitzgerald's inn and tavern became a station on the stage route. The stone barn that was used for the stage line is still standing and it is one of the very few original buildings in existence along the stage route today.



Bibliography:
Application Draft for submission of Fitzgerald's Station for National Historic Trail designation by Susan Young and John McLarty October 2007
Photos from http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/archinfo/fitz.html

Click here for a map to Fitzgerald's Station.