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Five Rivers
Preservation, Inc., has several active pro-jects as well
as a few already completed.
Much work remains to be done
on many of these pro-jects, and ideas for new projects
are still developing.
We need your help!
To volunteer, contact us at:
We'll need...
To help through a
financial donation, click here.
Thanks! |
Randolph County
Heritage Museum
Established in 2006. Preserves and displays
the important history of Randolph County through
exhibits, events, and shows. |
Preserve America
Project
A federal program through which the State
awards historic preservation grants to local governments
in areas of historic significance. Both the City of
Pocahontas and Randolph County have qualified for the
program. |
Historic Trails
Project
To research, mark, and publicize the historic
trails of Randolph County. These include the Southwest
Trail/Old Military Road, the Benge Route of the Trail of
Tears, and the Arkansas Road. Trail of Tears wayside
marker to be placed at Maynard by the State. |
Civil War River
Walk Memorial
Established in 2006 along the banks of Black
River in Overlook Park, Pocahontas. Documents the
important role Randolph County played in the Civil War
on a trail of historic markers with benches. |
Founder's Memorial
Established in 2006 at Masonic Cemetery in
Pocahontas. This memorial preserves the graves of
Pocahontas founder Ransom Bettis, his daughter and
Arkansas First Lady Cinderella Bettis Drew, the memorial
obelisk of Governor Thomas S. Drew, and the graves of
some of the Drew children. |
Randolph County Quilt Trail
Arkansas' ONLY Quilt Trial. Photographs of vintage quilts created by
local quilters, enlarged and displayed outdoors
throughout the county.
We are currently working to add quilts to
buildings in downtown Maynard as an extension
of the county quilt trail.
See photos of our current
quilt trail offerings
here. |
Civil War
Sesquicentennial 2011
Due to the great importance of Randolph
County in the Civil War, the State will sponsor several
events here in the 150th anniversary year of that
conflict. Scenic Driving Trails related to the war will
also be established in the county. |
Rock and Roll 67
Highway U. S. Highway 67 in Clay, Randolph,
Lawrence, and Jackson counties have been designated as
Rock and Roll Highway 67 in honor of the many early rock
and roll stars, like Roy Orbison, Elvis, and Billy Lee
Riley, above, who played at venues along that road when
rock was young. It will include historic markers,
historic sites, and a Museum dedicated to those artists.
See highway map
here. |
National Register Project
Structures and sites of at least 51 years old
that have retained their historic appearance are
eligible to be placed on the National Register of
Historic Places. Five Rivers Personnel will assist
owners in getting their property certified. |
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Pocahontas
Commercial Historic District
Most of downtown Pocahontas is now certified as a
National Commercial Historic District.
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Century Farms Project
Farm lands in the county that have been used
for agricultural purposes for at least 100 years by the
same family are honored with plaques and other
honors.
Do you know of a
Randolph County farm that might qualify for this
project? If so, please e-mail us the name of the
property owner, location (community) of the farm, and
owner phone number (if known):
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Old Court House
Restoration Project
Five Rivers worked with the Randolph County
government in obtaining a grant to restore and preserve
the Old Randolph county Courthouse. |
Historic Marker Project
A project to establish plaques on the
buildings in downtown Pocahontas telling their history
and history uses. Historic Markers will also be placed
at historic sites throughout the County. |
Walking Tour of Historic
Downtown Pocahontas
Experienced guides explain the history
of the people and the buildings
of downtown Pocahontas.
Haunted Pocahontas Tour
This after-dark guided tour visits eight sites in
downtown Pocahontas where
historic ghosts will appear
and explain the circumstances
of their death...or the deaths they caused here.
Rock and Roll Highway 67 Tour
A guided van tour that visits seven points in
Randolph County, along
Rock and Roll Highway 67,
where stars like Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison,
Bill Rice, and Billy Lee Riley
appeared during the early rock and roll years.
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Old Depot
Restoration Project
Five Rivers is currently working to restore
the 1921 Frisco Depot, located in the National Historic
District, across Highway 67 from downtown Pocahontas.
The current plan is to use the restored depot as a
Visitor Welcome and Information Center as well as a
Museum of Transportation and Commercial History. |
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Maynard Commercial
Historic District
Five Rivers is currently working to make
downtown Maynard a national commercial historic
district. |
Pocahontas Neighborhood
Historic Districts
Five Rivers is
currently working to create
two National Register neighborhood
historic districts:
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The neighborhood
of
brick houses surrounding the old
Schmidt Brick Works in the
Park Street/Pyburn Street area.
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The neighborhood
of houses built by Ferdinand Spinnenweber for his
home and homes for his children, in the Bettis
Street/Church Street area.
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Ghost Sign Preservation
and Restoration Project
A ghost sign is
old, faded, hand-painted advertising signage remaining
on a building for an extended period of time. The
signage may be kept for its nostalgic appeal, or simply
indifference by the owner.
Many ghost signs still visible around Randolph County
are from the 1890s to 1960s. Such signs were most
commonly used in the decades before the Great
Depression.
The painters of the signs were called "wall dogs. As
signage advertising formats changed, less durable signs
appeared in the later 20th century, and ghost signs from
that era are less common.
Randolph County Historic Preservation is investigating
ways to preserve and even restore the remaining ghost
signs of our county. |
St.
Charles Massacre
Site Memorial
On May 28, 1865, at
the end of the
American Civil War, seven young Confederate soldiers
were executed, some say murdered,
by Union soldiers on Bettis Street in Pocahontas,
in front of the old St. Charles Hotel.
This project aims
at raising money to erect a memorial commemorating the
site of the
St. Charles Massacre, and the men who died there, with a
monument, ideally an exact copy of the one at Cowen,
Missouri.
Read the full story
of the massacre, and the monument at Cowen Cemetery,
here. |
