What to See in Arrow Rock - Top Sights and Attractions

Museum in Saline County, Missouri. Arrow Rock State Historic Site is an open-air museum encompassing a geographic formation and a portion of the village of Arrow Rock, Missouri. The park is part of the Arrow Rock Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and commemorates the history of the area as a key stop on the Santa Fe Trail.

A visitor center museum features exhibits about Arrow Rock and the Boone's Lick country. The Bingham Home, built by artist George Caleb Bingham, is a historic house museum furnished as in the 1880s. The 1834 Huston Tavern is a restaurant. A walking tour of the site includes the old courthouse, town doctor's home, stone jail, and other historic buildings. The park's amenities also include camping facilities and hiking trails.

The bridge and shelters were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.^[1]

Cemetery in Saline County, Missouri. Sappington Cemetery State Historic Site is a Missouri state historic site located approximately five miles southwest of Arrow Rock in Saline County. The cemetery houses the graves of John Sappington and two of his sons-in-law, Meredith Miles Marmaduke and Claiborne Fox Jackson, who each served as governor of Missouri before the American Civil War.

John Sappington (1776–1856) was a prominent early physician and businessman in Missouri. He was a proponent of using quinine in the treatment of malaria and was at the time the largest importer of the drug in the United States. Sappington also wrote the first medical book published west of the Mississippi River.

Sappington and his family were deeply involved in antebellum Missouri Democratic politics. Two of his sons-in-law, Meredith Miles Marmaduke and Claiborne Fox Jackson, were elected as governors of Missouri. Grandson John Sappington Marmaduke was a noted Confederate General in the American Civil War; he also was elected as Missouri Governor in later years.

Established by Sappington in 1831, the two-acre cemetery holds 111 headstones and grave markers. Sappington Cemetery became a part of the Missouri State Park system in 1967 by act of the Missouri General Assembly. In order to preserve its historic nature and appearance, the site has not been modified for ADA accessibility. No restrooms or other facilities are provided. The site is open sunrise to sunset year-round.

The state historic site was expanded in 2014 to include the nearby "Sappington Negro Cemetery," used initially for the burial of the family's enslaved African Americans before the war.^[2]