The Calico Rock Museum & Visitor Center is first and foremost a history museum!

by | Nov 5, 2015 | Travel Tips

Calico_Rock_and_White_River05The Calico Rock Museum & Visitor Center is first and foremost a history museum!

Calico_Rock_and_White_River05

Putting Our History Front and Center
The Calico Rock Museum & Visitor Center is, first and foremost, a history museum.  We started as a history museum and our history will always be our primary focus.  In order to put our history front and center, the museum is building display windows in the Bluff City Bank Building (formerly the visitor center building).  When sanded, painted and trimmed, the display windows will house ourVeterans exhibit.
The uniformed mannequins in our front window will pay a proper tribute the men and women from our area that have served our nation well in every war since the Revolution.  The display will include artifacts from the Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War.
View photos of this work in progress at: http://www.calicorockmuseum.com/community.html
Homestead Exhibit
With the Veterans exhibit moving front and center, the Homestead exhibit will move into a new location in the basement.  The one-room house will allow guests to enter through a screen front door into a time long ago.  Visitors will experience what life was life for pioneer settlers and understand the hard living of our ancestors.
The River Camp and Trading Post
The addition of a riverside camp site to our River exhibit and addition of new animal taxidermy, sponsored by Jill Easton and Jim Spencer, will complete our river scene.  Improvements to the Trading Post, including an interactive trading and bartering activity, will bring to life frontier life.
A More Realistic Depot
Using an original photo of the Calico Rock Depot, we are creating a new exhibit that will more accurately reflect what the depot looked like, to scale of course.  The space opened up by the relocated Depot will allow us to tell the story of farming in our area and how farming was changed by the addition of the Norfork Dam in the 1940’s and show, through, scale models, how a flour mill andcotton gin worked.
Easton Education Center
The Coal House is being converted into the F. Stowe Easton Education Center.  This space will allow us to seat 18 students at tables for hands-on activities and learning experiences.  We can conduct both adult and student education sessions on history, science and art.  The center will include all of the equipment necessary to conduct state-of-the-art educational programs.
The Education Center is being made possible by a generous gift from the estate of F. Stowe Easton who was himself a lifelong learner.  This legacy gift will enable students to learn about history, science and art with hands-on activities.  Stowe would have loved to see these future generations find a love of their community and appreciate their history, where they come from.
View photos of this work in progress at: http://www.calicorockmuseum.com/community.html
Being a Good Neighbor
The museum is proud to be a part of our community and appreciates our neighbors.  We love being a part of the Historic Main Street District and appreciate the hard work that volunteers with the 20/20 Group provide to make Main Street sparkle.  They’ve been planting flowers, cleaning store fronts, decorating for Christmas and offering a welcoming front door for far more years than the museum has been open.
The 20/20 Group volunteers carry water every summer to water the beautiful flowers along Main Street.  To make their work easier, the museum is installing an outside water faucet so they don’t have to carry water and to make washing Main Street easier.  Justin Sanders began installing the water faucet today and, he tell us, it will be finished tomorrow!
We have also been able to complete the renovation of the ramp leading to upper Main Street.  Randy Hiles has also installed a deeper flower bed in front of the museum which will be home to new flowers next summer.  Dickie Jones is building a handrail to go along the new ramp and should be installed soon.
The 20/2o Group volunteers, led by Claire Cresto, have done a marvelous job of weeding, watering and caring for the Community Garden which is located behind the museum.  This beautiful green space has been the backdrop for beautiful photos and family picnics.  When you see Claire, please tell her how nice this space is.  Work is progressing on a sundial which was given in memory ofBarbara Fischer, a founding board member of our foundation, in the garden.
The City of Calico Rock did a great job restriping the parking spaces along Main Street which helps our guests know where to park and welcomes them to town.
This winter, we hope to rebuild the wooden steps leading to upper Main Street with new concrete steps that are safer and easier to navigate.
Rodman Street Pavilion
Behind the Printing Press Café, the museum has plans to construct a bandstand (with storage space above) on the concrete slap that previously occupied the Clinkingbeard Warehouse.  This area, located on Rodman Street, would be named to honor longtime Calico Rock resident, E.C. Rodman.  Mr. Rodman is credited with having saved Calico Rock and most of the families in this area during the Great Depression.  The Rodman Street Pavilion could host concerts, picnics, events, street dances, and much more.
Right now, the Rodman Street Pavilion is just a dream, but with your help it can become a reality.  If you would like to donate to support the building of the Rodman Street Pavilion, we have established a fund.  Send checks, which are 100% deductible, to:
Rodman Street Pavilion (CRMF)
104 Main Street
Calico Rock, Ar 72519
Foundation Receives $250,000 Legacy Gift
The Calico Rock Museum Foundation has received a legacy gift, when realized, in the amount of $250,000.  The gift is a structured life insurance policy that costs the donor a minimal amount of money in annual premiums for 10-15 years.  The policy will be payable to the museum foundation’s endowment fund upon death of the donor.  The small annual premiums are tax deductible, so they help the donor immediately while helping provide long-term stability for the foundation.
If you are interested in making a legacy gift to the foundation’s endowment fund through your estate by life insurance, highly appreciated stock, land, or other assets, contact the foundation’s legacy giving team at 870-373-0083.

​We appreciate your support of the Calico Rock Museum!​

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Calico Rock Museum Foundation
104 Main Street
Calico Rock, Arkansas 72519
870-297-6100