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People see signs on the I-40 freeway near Hazen advising them that the Museum is open, and they ask if the long drive is worth it. My answer is a dozen times YES! This is one of the top museums in the state. If nothing existed here but the museum itself it would be worth the trip. Add in an opportunity to visit Stuttgart itself and you'll need a week to explore everything. Even with over fifteen thousand artifacts nside the museum is spotless. There are no stale odors of time crusted over and deeds forgotten. What you see here is of better quality than you'd expect from a store of that day. That much love and devotion is almost incredible since over ten thousand choice artifacts have been donated to the museum over its 31 year history. Remember, this is an INTERPRETIVE museum.. The staff will jump through hoops with exuberant joy to help you understand any artifact in this memorial to the prairie pioneers. School classes are not only invited to visit, they are invited to participate. The diorama exhibits are great works of art that will reward your sharp eye and serious study with ever more detail. Perhaps the best display of talent is found in the huge mural at the top of the walls. This is a progressive history of farming in the area. Other, penny-pinching, communities will never spend the money necessary to acquire art this good. Tractors and farm implements are in exquisite condition. Virtually all of them were donated by descendants of the pioneers who owned them and used them in this area. A Model T farm truck is on display too; the museum placard points out how revolutionary this innovation was to the farming, more important than the tractors even. Rice started here in 1901 and by 1910 was a thriving industry. A working exhibit in the center of the museum shows how tenderly rice must be milled to produce the rice people want. The soy bean industry and the aquaculture industry are also examined in depth. Outside buildings are exhibits of a newspaper, a fire station, a school, a church and a home. (The home was built here and is only indicative of what homes were like. The other buildings were actually used in the capacity shown)
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What birds can you spot in Arkansas?
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