Museums
Plantation Agriculture Museum tells the story of cotton in the "Old South."
Travel through time from the present to prehistory in the museums of Arkansas State Parks. From archeological discoveries and effigy vessels to oil field technology; from frontier Arkansas to a turn-of-the-century train depot; from cotton agriculture to one of the South's finest repositories of guns and Bowie knives, each artifact tells a story. Each forges a connection between you and the people of Arkansas's past.
1886 Frisco Depot (Mammoth Spring State Park)
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Step back in time to the 1900s as you stroll through the oldest railroad station in Arkansas, the circa 1886 Frisco Depot at Mammoth Spring State Park. This restored, turn-of-the century Victorian depot features custom-sculpted lifelike figures that portray the train crew, depot crew and train passengers of the early 1900s period and share their stories. Two short videos tell the history of Mammoth Spring. The baggage room includes exhibits of railroad artifacts. A Frisco caboose parked just outside is open for touring, too.
Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources
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Exhibits and programs tell of the industrial and social history surrounding the 'black gold rush' of Arkansas's oil fields. Walk the rutted streets of a 1920s oil boom town, then go on a journey inside the earth to see formation of the oil strata. In the museum's Oil Field Park, see full-size operating equipment used from the 1920s to the modern era, including a 1920s standard oil rig and a 112-foot wooden derrick.
Arkansas Post Museum
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Early travelers used the Arkansas River as a highway. Just north of the waterway lay a land of tall grasses filled with elk, buffalo, and deer. Explorers such as Audubon, Schoolcraft and Washington Irving were startled at the expanse of land in this region. Stroll through this museum's complex of five buildings and explore life on the Arkansas Grand Prairie.
B. W. Edwards Weapons Museum (Historic Washington State Park)
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Historic Washington, Arkansas's premier 19th-century village, is home to the one of the South's most complete collections of guns and Bowie-style knives. Washington was site of the blacksmith shop where gifted silversmith James Black made a weapon for Jim Bowie that would become famous as the "Bowie Knife," and symbolize the spirit of the pioneers who settled the frontier.
Crouch House (Historic Washington State Park)
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This restored Greek Revival home, located within Historic Washington State Park, serves as a museum of construction methods of the 19th century. Learn about hand-hewn timber framing and brace-frame cottage construction. View cut-away sections of walls and fireplaces, along with examples of graining, marbling and laying plaster. And, see window sections and a variety of tools used by craftsmen to build the historic structures you'll visit on your tour of historic Washington.
Hampson Archeological Museum State Park
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The James K. Hampson Collection presents an amazing look at the decorative arts of the late Mississippian people from the Nodena Site. Notable pieces include a large collection of the famed "Nodena Red and White" pottery, Nodena type site points, and a variety of effigy vessels, including a remarkable human head effigy.
Jacksonport Courthouse Museum (Jacksonport State Park)
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When you visit Jacksonport State Park, you stand in a place that was a thriving river port in the 1800's. The town became the Jackson county seat in 1854, and in 1869, construction began on a stately, two-story brick courthouse. The structure was completed in 1872; however, when bypassed by the railroad in the 1880's, the town of Jacksonport began to decline. In 1891, the county seat was moved to nearby Newport, and Jacksonport's stores, wharves and saloons soon vanished. Today the restored courthouse is a state park museum, where exhibits themed "If These Walls Could Talk" incorporate first-person dialogue audio, court records, and vintage photos to tell Jacksonport's story.
Mary Woods No. 2 Sternwheel Paddleboat (Jacksonport State Park)
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As you tour the Mary Woods No. 2, you'll gain better understanding of the rich history of transportation on Arkansas's rivers. In its working days, this 1930's-era vessel transported barges of lumber for the Woods Lumber Company on the White, Mississippi and Cache Rivers. Today, it is docked at Jacksonport State Park as a floating museum, where it has been restored to the same appearance it had while pushing timber to mills along the lower White River. While aboard the Mary Woods No. 2, you'll see furnished crew cabins, the galley and dining area, and exhibits that tell the story of the working crew. Experience the lives of the crew and captain as they lived and worked on the boat, check out the bird's eye view from the pilot house, and stand beside the powerful engines. The surroundings, along with your imagination, will take you back in time.
Plantation Agriculture Museum
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Located just 20 minutes east from the capital city of Little Rock, this museum interprets cotton agriculture in Arkansas from statehood in 1836 through World War II, when agricultural practices quickly became mechanized. Tour the restored 1920s cotton gin and see how cotton was grown, picked and processed.
Lower White River Museum
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Two centuries ago, the White River was the highway to the American frontier of north Arkansas. Through exhibits and programs, Prairie County Museum tells the story of the exploration and settlement of the lower White River from 1831 to 1931.
Washington Print Museum (Historic Washington State Park)
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The town of Washington, Arkansas, which dates to 1824, had the second newspaper in the state,The Washington (Ark.) Telegraph, which printed here from 1839 into the 1950s. The Print Museum in today's Historic Washington State Park interprets an 1800s newspaper business, exhibiting hand presses, machine presses and linotype machines from the early 1800s through the mid 1900s.
