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Timberlands Region
Visit the rolling, pine-covered Timberlands Region of southern Arkansas and explore some of the region's notable historic towns. Journey to Hope and take a tour of former President Bill Clinton's birthplace and boyhood home, now a part of the William J Clinton Presidential Center. Venture just a few miles to Old Washington Historic State Park, and absorb the history of Arkansas' Confederate capital from 1863-65. Explore the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, and learn how the discovery of oil in this part of Arkansas spurred the sudden development of towns that exist today. See the legacy of the oil boom in the 1920s and 1930s Art Deco architecture in El Dorado's beautifully restored downtown area. Enjoy some of Pine Bluff's attractions, which include the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame, Delta Rivers Nature Center and Arkansas Railroad Museum.
Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources
Smackover - Timberlands
Located approximately 2.5 hours from Little Rock. From Little Rock, go to Sheridan, then Fordyce, then Camden. Head to El Dorado, but stay on Hwy 7. The Museum is on the bypass to Smackover.
Contact Information:
Phone: 870-725-2877
Fax: 870-725-2161
Email: museumnaturalresources@arkansas.com
Website: http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/museumofnaturalresources
Near El Dorado on Jan. 10, 1921, a geyser of "black gold" spewed far over the 112-foot derrick of Arkansas’s first productive oil well. The town’s population quickly skyrocketed, creating the need for a new courthouse, more business space and larger churches. The prosperity would subsequently spread through 10 south Arkansas counties as more oil and natural gas was discovered. At the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources at Smackover, the history of the state’s "oil boom" is told through films, historic photographs, geological and other exhibits, oil-era memorabilia and an Oil Field Park, which displays derricks and pumping equipment. Seven miles away, El Dorado’s thriving downtown, centered around the Neo-classic 1928 Union County Courthouse, contains architecturally significant churches and other impressive structures constructed in the 1920s and ‘30s and made possible by the new wealth. A diverse mix of shops, a variety of dining establishments and complementary landscaping and streetscape details have combined to make the area one of Arkansas’s most attractive and popular downtowns.
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Clinton Birthplace Foundation, Inc.Hope - Timberlands |
The wood frame house is a two and one-half story American Foursquare design built in 1917, but has not been owned by the Clinton family for the past 30 years. The house is now owned by the non-profit Foundation.
For his first four years, Bill Clinton lived with his maternal grandparents, Eldridge and Edith Grisham Cassidy, at 117 South Hervey in Hope. It was in this house that Bill spent his formative years, learning to walk, talk, laugh, play, read, and pray.
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Crater of Diamonds State ParkMurfreesboro - Timberlands |
North America’s largest diamond (40.23 carats) and more than 70,000 other diamonds have been found in a field south of Murfreesboro since farmer John Huddleston discovered the first such gems there in 1906. Now the eroding surface of a volcanic pipe located about three miles south of Murfreesboro is preserved as Crater of Diamonds State Park, the world’s only site where, for a small fee, anyone can dig for diamonds and keep what they find. The park’s visitors center offers an audio-visual presentation giving tips on diamond hunting, a display of diamonds in the rough, and exhibits detailing the site’s history and geology. The park also has a campground, hiking trail, a picnic and play area, and, new in 2003, a water play area. A rainbow-trout fishery is located on the Little Missouri River below the Narrows Dam some nine miles north of the park. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission stocks trout there from late fall through April.
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Delta Rivers Nature CenterPine Bluff - Timberlands |
Designed to resemble an old-fashioned Delta hunting lodge, the center’s exhibits reveal the history and importance of Arkansas’s delta streams and wetlands. Live and preserved wildlife displays include a 20,000-gallon aquarium. The center also offers trails for wildlife observation and a gift shop.
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El Dorado Downtown Historic DistrictEl Dorado - Timberlands |
Recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this downtown contains a significant collection of 1920s and 1930s architecture (courthouse, churches and commercial buildings) made necessary and financed by the oil boom that began in 1921. A walking tour reveals the variety of boutiques, shops and dining options recently brought to the district, which also includes the Rialto Theater, the state’s only working art deco movie house.
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Old Washington Historic State ParkHope - Timberlands |
Washington, Ark. was founded in 1824 on the Southwest Trail just 15 miles from the Red River, which then separated American lands from the Mexican territory known as Texas. Because of its border proximity, Washington played a role in Texas’ 1835-36 war for independence. Evidence suggests that Sam Houston and others discussed plans for the revolt while Houston resided in one of the town’s taverns in 1834. The town also served as Arkansas’s Confederate capital after Union forces captured Little Rock in 1863. Old Washington Historic State Park preserves and showcases the town’s architecture, history and pioneer culture. Park visitors can get a sense of 19th-century life in Arkansas by visiting such attractions as the 1836 courthouse that served as the Confederate capitol; the Edwards Weapons Museum, where more than 1,500 items include numerous pioneer-era rifles and pistols; a print museum featuring 19th-century printing equipment; a re-creation of a period blacksmith shop; and the Pioneer Cemetery. Authentically and splendidly furnished historic houses dating from the mid-1830s to the 1850s provide a glimpse of domestic life and contain many items – furniture and ceramics in particular – that are 19th-century treasures.
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