KUAR Arkansas’s Amazing Place Names #38 Queen Wilhelmina State Park
In the late 19th century, Arthur Stilwell, president of the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railroad, was building a line to connect Kansas City to the Texas coast. As he completed sections of his railroad in western Arkansas, he sought to create places that would draw tourists, tourists who would use his railroad to get to these attractions. Dutch financier, Jan deGoeijen, helped Stilwell build a magnificent thirty-five room hotel on Rich Mountain, and in honor of the Queen of the Netherlands, they named it the Queen Wilhelmina Inn. The hotel included a special room for the queen, should she ever visit. Alas, she never did, and over time the hotel fell into decay. In the 1950s, the state purchased the inn and the land around it, and so thanks to Dutch money and a railroad, we now have the spectacular Queen Wilhelmina State Park.
Daniel Boice
University of Arkansas at Monticello