Welcome to Lower White River Museum State Park , one of
52 beautiful, historic state parks, each with their own special
mission. The other thing they each have is a geocache. This
adventure is based around visiting all 52 state parks. Each park
cache has a clue that you will need to find the final, 53rd
cache located somewhere in the state. Just download the clue sheet and start your adventure. We
encourage you to upload photos on the geocaching.com page when
you find one and also to tell us about your visit to the park on
the state park blog. As an extra incentive, For
a limited time you can pick up an Arkansas State Park geocoin at
the final location and send it on it's way to visit parks
throughout the world!
At Lower White River Museum State Park you'll
understand the role of Arkansas's White River, with emphasis on
the Lower White, as one of the vital transportation routes for
the first settlers who arrived in the Arkansas frontier.
Artifacts and state-of-the art exhibits tell the story of the
river's influence on settlements established along its banks and
their subsequent commerce rooted in hunting and fishing, and
expanded into agriculture, shelling, and timber.
As you enter the museum, you'll be greeted by life-sized figures of
Captain James C. McManus, Miss Sallie Davis, a schoolteacher from
Memphis, surveyor John Garretson, and Henry, a slave. The
characters introduce themselves via audio using dialog taken from
oral history records and slave narratives. Backdrop for the
mannequins is a 12-foot, 8-inch by 7-foot, 4-inch pen and ink mural
by Little Rock artist Richard DeSpain based on a historical
photograph. Pictured is the J.A. Woodson steamboat in the late
1890s docking at Cook's Landing near Oil Trough on the White River
waiting to be loaded with cotton from Colonel V. Y. Cook's
plantation.
The rest of the museum's exhibit space depicts eight areas of
importance to the territory during its frontier days: agriculture,
Civil War, pearling and button-making, timber, education, fishing
and hunting, medicine and riverboats. Exhibits and text explain how
each of these topics helped mold the community of Des Arc and the
lower White River region. An enclosed display case houses local
historic items that will change on a regular basis. An interactive
display for young museum visitors features an 8-foot by 12 1/2-foot
map of Arkansas with the Arkansas and White Rivers highlighted on
it. Red dots show where towns are located along the Lower White.
Over 1,000-square-feet were recently added to the original building
to now allow for barrier-free access by museum visitors.
A new research room features archival materials, such as cemetery
records, tax exemption receipts for cotton, old newspapers, estate
papers and other historical artifacts, which can be accessed for
family history and genealogical research. A small gift shop offers
small items related to the museum, including postcards bearing pen
and ink drawings by Richard DeSpain.
The park hosts several special events throughout the year including
quilting workshops, acrylic and sand painting classes, crafts and
quilt show, beginner's gourd workshop and instruction in Dutch oven
cooking. Next door to the state-operated museum is a replica of a
late 1800s dogtrot log cabin, owned by Prairie County. The cabin is
set-up in traditional dogtrot style with the kitchen in one side
and living quarters in the other, separated by an open-air
breezeway. Outbuildings used as either a smoke house or a potato
house and a wash house complete the complex.
Please check the park Web site for hours of operation. Park Permit
Number 44-050708
Plan some time for each of the parks and enjoy your visit. Learn
about natural, cultural and state history. Take in a hike, a swim,
a boat ride. Go fishing, cycling or just relax. For more
information on geocaching in an Arkansas State Park visit our
geocaching page. For information on
geocaching throughout the Natural State visit Arkansas
Geocaching. Have a great time and we’ll see you in a
park!
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