Welcome to our little town of Cushman! Where we have everything from mines to railroad history to little blue men hiding in caves! Get ready for a history lesson folks....
Cushman became a boom town for its rich deposits of manganese ore. This started as early as 1866 and Cushman was established as a town in 1886 and incorporatedin 1906. The manganese ore was extremely sought after during the Civil war and World War 1. Cushman itself was the result of an accident. Most of the mining took place near now Sandtown and Minersville.
The following information is compiled from the Encyclopedia of arkansas and from the 2 local museums:
Ore was shipped from the area, hauled by wagon and ox cart to Batesville or to Penter’s Bluff on White River for shipment by packet ship to world markets. The Iron Mountain Railroad, built a rail line from St. Louis to Little Rock by way of Newport. Shortly after (about 1873), they began construction of a branch line to the mining fields. Their objective was the rich mining area near the tiny village of Minersville in northern Independence County. About one and one half miles from their destination, while blasting through very difficult terrain, a worker was accidentally killed. The contractor was sued, and construction halted. The railroad company decided to terminate the rail line at that point and build shipping facilities at end of track. A local civic leader, surveyed and laid out lots, blocks, and streets in the town he called Minersville, near the new rail terminus, on December 9, 1886. Henry and Elizabeth Newman, who owned the land, dedicated these streets on May 17, 1888. The terminus, about a half mile from the village, was named Cushman in honor of a railroad vice president and operating officer. Minersville changed its name to Cushman when it was incorporated in 1906.
In 1889, Cushman had a population of sixty, with fourteen businesses. Ninety-six mining employees and a number of farmer/contractors.
In 1899, records show Cushman with a population of 200. At this time, Cushman had three doctors and two hotels.
Cushman’s estimated population during the World War I years was in excess of 2,000, with many more in the area adjacent to Cushman. The shortage of labor for the mines was of national concern. The shortage was so serious that Italy, an American ally during the war, sent 900 soldiers to Cushman to mine ore. Manganese is essential to the manufacture of strong steel, especially the kind of steel needed in the production of war machinery such as tanks.
This building here has always been a staple in town.
It was built & opened by Remmel Baxter in 1941 as a general store. It has been a store ever since owned by different people but always a general store.
Fun fact when the hwy came through Cushman they swapped the front door to the back door! Originally the front door faced the main road at the time (main street). When the new road came in they just put the front door on the other side 😅
Ok that's enough history for now we'll try to save some for the other caches haha! We will add some photos of Cushman in its boom period and of some of the general stores.
Cache itself is placed outside of the buildings with landowner permission so please be respectful of their property. It is NOT attached to any of the buildings so please do not pull on anything on buildings. Enjoy this larger cache and our little town! Name should be enough hint. YOU MUST UNLOCK THE DOOR AND SIGN THE LOG TO MARK THIS AS A FIND. We will delete logs that do not sign the Log and we live close so we'll be keeping a check on it.
There are hooks inside to hang trackables from. There is also a $5 gift card for FTF.
To open the lock simple read the information to find out how many Italian solders were sent to help work the mines.