Big First Steps- Park #1 Lower White River Museum.

Soooo... here we go on our adventure of seeing all 52 Arkansas State Parks in 2021.

The day was January 9, 2021 and it started out like any other day. Ok, this is not THAT kind of blog. But, the date was in fact January 9th.

We chose our first 3 stops based on location. We knew we could hit up 3 parks in the time we had available that day. So our first park was the Lower White River Museum in Des Arc, Arkansas.

This quaint little museum is right off Main Street in Des Arc and focuses on the history of the area. One piece of that history which I found to be very interesting- the making of buttons!! So back in the day, before plastic, the citizens in the Des Arc area and DeValls Bluff would scrape the bottom of the White River for mussel shells and then portions of the shells would be punched out and made into pearl buttons. Apparently, the White River was quite the treasure trove of mussel shells, It may just be me, but these shell buttons are so pretty. It reminds me of my grandmother's vintage clothes. So pretty! But I guess like most things, it is not a sustainable way to continue clothing production so in walked the plastic buttons and those shells got thrown right back into the river. Steven actually knew the name of the machine that cut out the buttons, a lathe. Colored me impressed with that knowledge.

The White River was also very important during the Civil War era. Goods for the troops were shipped along the river. The White River gave Union forces a great entry point to take over territories. Shore Batteries would be placed along the banks and fired at passing gunboats in attacks.

We did find some humorous pieces of history in the museum.

After reading these "Rules for Teacher," I once again thanked the stars above for PROGRESS!! I mean- no dying of hair?!?!? Teachers had it rough back in the day. I guess I never really knew about this history of the profession. There were also "Rules for Students'" but anyone who knew me from school days knows I don't pay much attention to rules. #badkid

One thing that was sad was how much things have changed due to COVID-19. In this particular museum, the books that had other pieces of history were removed as to not allow people to touch them. I figure this will be pretty common as we visit other parks. I completely understand it and am happy to see the sites still being able to be open during this time, even if we have to practice a few extra safety measures. Maybe one day we will be back to normal!

The museum was pretty hopping on this chilly Saturday, which made me happy. I am hoping more and more people are getting out and discovering #arkansasstateparks.