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Arkansas land transfer is completed for US Marshals Museum

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
The transfer of 16.3 acres of riverfront land is now complete, and construction can begin on the 50,000-square-foot US Marshals Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Image courtesy of US Marshals Museum
The transfer of 16.3 acres of riverfront land is now complete, and construction can begin on the 50,000-square-foot US Marshals Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Image courtesy of US Marshals Museum

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) – The transfer of 16.3 acres of riverfront property to the U.S. Marshals Museum has been completed.

Museum officials said Monday that the Robbie Westphal family had completed the land transfer. The property is nearly 10 acres more than the original riverfront tract that was donated several years ago to better accommodate parking and additional amenities at the museum.

The president and CEO of the museum, Jim Dunn, said organizers could not have picked a more fitting spot for the future museum. The site sits across from where deputy marshals crossed the Arkansas River into old Indian Territory to enforce the law.

The property is subject to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation easement for channel alignment. The museum is working with the Corps to allow construction on the site.

One of the many ways in which funds are being raised to underwrite the museum is through the sale of commemorative coins struck at US Mints. They include a $5 gold coin minted at West Point, a silver dollar minted at Philadelphia, and a clad half-dollar minted at San Francisco.

(Left to right) The $5 gold coin honors the more than 250 US Marshals who have lost their lives in the line of duty, the silver dollar represents the legendary role the US Marshals Service played in keeping law and order in the American West, and the clad half-dollar shows the contrast between the Old West and modern-day deputy US Marshal. Image courtesy of US Marshals Museum
(Left to right) The $5 gold coin honors the more than 250 US Marshals who have lost their lives in the line of duty, the silver dollar represents the legendary role the US Marshals Service played in keeping law and order in the American West, and the clad half-dollar shows the contrast between the Old West and modern-day deputy US Marshal. Image courtesy of US Marshals Museum

Learn more about the project and order coins online at the US Marshals Museum website.

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