Self-Guided Tour Preview

(S on map)

Inside the Museum Center you’ll find the best of Arkansas Made, from 19th-century decorative and fine art to contemporary Arkansas art in the museum’s galleries.

The museum’s eight exhibit galleries explore Arkansas’s creative legacy.

First floor galleries include the featured changing exhibits, as well as the permanent knife gallery where the story of the bowie knife is told.

On the second floor, in the Native American Gallery (temporarily closed), you can learn the story of Arkansas’s first people, in their own words. You’ll also find two galleries devoted to contemporary Arkansas art plus an interactive children’s gallery.

The Museum Store is the place to purchase exceptional pieces made by Arkansas artisans from all corners of the state. In addition to the handmade pottery, jewelry and textiles, you’ll find books, music, toys, jams and much more.

You can find more information about our current exhibits here.

(Q on map) 1939

The museum’s founder, Louise Loughborough, added this building as a reminder of Arkansas pioneers’ daily need for horses and wagons.

(R on map) 1850s

Used now for museum research (and closed to the public), from 1941 through 1974 this housed the visitor reception center and museum offices.

(O, P on map) late 1820s

Little Rock’s oldest standing building, built by Jesse Hinderliter, served as a tavern, restaurant, hotel and private residence. In the early 19th century it was a hub of activity attracting travelers, trappers, surveyors, boatmen and others. A log building, it was covered with clapboard before the U.S. Civil War.

(L, M, N on map) late 1840s

Scotsman Robert Brownlee was in Arkansas from 1837 until 1849, carving stone, farming and mining. In the late1840s he built this federal style brick house, then rented it to his brother, James.

Robert wrote in his memoir of his dislike of slavery, but his brother owned Tabby, who lived in the slave quarters attached to the backyard kitchen.

The kitchen, plus the smokehouse with root cellar, were reconstructed atop brick footings unearthed by archeologists. Old drawings and a classified ad from 1852 were also helpful in reconstruction.
The ad described the out buildings. Robert was advertising the sale of his house because, after his success in the Gold Rush, he decided to stay in California.

(K on map) 1970s

A 19th century herb garden could be called a frontier pharmacy, as many of the plants were useful in treating common ailments. This garden was researched, designed and is still tended by members of the Herb Society of America, Arkansas unit.

(I, J on map) Reconstructed 2010
Young William Woodruff printed his first edition of the Arkansas Gazette at Arkansas Post, then moved to Little Rock when the territorial government came here. This two-story brick print shop, which
he used from 1824 til 1827, stood out in the frontier town of mostly crude log buildings. He sold seeds and stationary supplies here and ran a lending library – the territory’s first.

(G on map) late 1840s

Scottish stonemason James McVicar came to Arkansas in 1836 to work on the Old State House. Later he was the penitentiary warden and a leader with the Masons. He built this frame home after serving in the Mexican War, just before leaving for the 1849 Gold Rush.

(H on map) Dedicated April 2011

This plaque honors 139 men, women and children who were enslaved by owners of the property now owned by Historic Arkansas Museum. Some lived in these restored homes.

(F on map) Dedicated May 2010

Arkansas artist Alice Guffey Miller created the whimsical pARTy for Peg, a tribute to a 50-year volunteer at Historic Arkansas Museum, Peg Smith. Objects from each of Arkansas’s 75 counties are embedded in the pedestals.

The objects and their stories can be searched at www.pARTyforPeg.org.

(A on map) 1840s

The Pembertons came from North Carolina in 1856 to start a cotton farm and lived for a year in the large log house which they had found abandoned. In the 1970s the house, made of cypress logs, was moved to the museum from Scott, 20 miles to our east.

(A, B, C, D, E on map)

The Pemberton and Perry families of Scott, AR, are recalled at the farmstead. The Pembertons came from North Carolina in 1856 to start a cotton farm and lived for a year in the large log house which they had found abandoned. In the 1970s the house, made of cypress logs, was moved to the museum from Scott, 20 miles to our east.

The smaller log cabin represents the home of John Perry’s family. He was respected as the leader of the 23 enslaved people that William Pemberton brought to Arkansas. The cabin and
barn, also from the 19th century, were relocated from southern Arkansas.

The blacksmith shop, of timber frame construction, is a reminder of how crucial blacksmithing was to any 1800s town or farm.

A variety of fencing encloses the Farmstead. Most unusual is the bois d’arc fence behind the barn. When lined closely together bois d’arc trees were “horse high, bull strong and pig tight” and widely
used as fencing until barbed wire was invented. This may be the first bois d’arc fence planted in Arkansas since the 1800s.