Fort Richardson's Hospital Tells the Harder Frontier Story

The Army opened Fort Richardson on Lost Creek in November 1867. It stood at the north end of a line of frontier forts. Soldiers rode long patrols and guarded the military road. They also helped local officers keep peace in Jacksboro.

The post hospital was modern for its time. Even so, disease killed more men than battle wounds did. The Army ordered the fort closed in 1878. Its 55 buildings were sold, stripped for materials, or left to decay. The hospital, commissary, bakery, magazine, morgue, and officers' quarters that remain are hard-used pieces of a working post, not stage scenery.

The Texas Centennial Commission bought the surviving buildings and 41 acres in 1936. TPWD acquired the site in 1968, and the park now covers more than 450 acres in North Texas. Today you can walk the fort, camp, fish, or follow the nine-mile Lost Creek trailway on foot, bike, or horseback. The park page keeps current building hours, ranger programs, alerts, and reservation links together for the drive to Jacksboro.