Pine Bluff Museums

The Governor Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center is parts museum, aquarium, zoo, laboratory, nature store, hiking trail, bird watching facility, wildlife photography location and environmental education facility, between Lake Pine Bluff and Lake Langhofer. The center is all about the history, impact, and wildlife of Arkansas' river and delta system. The center provides education programming for adults and kids, including boating, hunting, and fishing education.

Railroad and history interested people might want to check out the Arkansas Railroad Museum, home of the last steam engine ever built, the SSW #819, another engine, other stock including kitchen and dining and other passenger cars, and railroad items, and is dedicated to the history of rail in Arkansas. Pine Bluff was once a major rail hub for cotton and other produce, one of the reasons the Arsenal is located here, and continues to be a transport center. The ARRM is in north Pine Bluff, near the river.

The Pine Bluff Jefferson County History Museum has a large collection of items about Pine Bluff's history from native pre-European settlement through frontier days, Old South, Civil War, and through to recent history. Exhibits have included Pine Bluff's Victorian era, 19th century watches, military history of Arkansans, Native history, Black history, and the era of King Cotton.

The Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas is mainly an art museum with science material, with a collection of Arkansas and African-American art including sculpture and photography, but with many other media as well. The museum also has a science arm with hands on design programming, and family oriented classes.

Little Rock Area Museums

Little Rock and Jacksonville, about 45 minutes north, are larger and have more museums and other sites.

The Jacksonville Military Museum focuses on military history and service of Jacksonville, starting with World War Two, continuing through the present.

The Old Mill in North Little Rock isn't an old abandoned mill, it's a recreated mill designed and built to be old and abandoned. This particular work of architecture and sculpture was created by a Mexican artist named Dionicio Rodriguez, who made this building in 1933 to represent mills of the 1800s. He did a good job - the mill was used as part of the opening sequence for 1939s Gone with the Wind.

The Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum preserves and presents Arkansas' contribution to commercial and military maritime history - the Arkansas River is a major trade river, and many Arkansas exhibits include indoors displays, but the major exhibits are the USS Razorback , towed into place after final decommissioning, a memorial for the USS Snook , and the USS Hoga .

The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History focuses on Arkansas' military history, from territorial days to the present, including the contributions of Arkansas natives. The museum is named for Arkansas and Little Rock native General Douglas MacArthur.

Little Rock is the capital city of Arkansas, and location of the Arkansas State Capitol Building , the Arkansas Governor's Mansion , and the Old State House (former capitol building, now a museum), and many monuments and memorials on the capitol grounds, to US military veterans, Law Enforcement Officers, Civil War veterans, Civil Rights workers, and many other deserving groups. Tours of the State Capitol and Governor's Mansion are available, with arrangement.

The Arkansas Old State House was the state capital until 1911. It was the site of a knife fight between legislators in the 1830s, camp for Union troops in the Civil War, and an armed standoff during Reconstruction. Today it is a state history museum, with artifacts from territory to modern day, and was where Bill Clinton announced his candidacy for president and where the campaign celebrated victory. Tours are free.

The Arkansas Museum of Discovery is a science and technology museum with a child, small child, and adult education mission. The museum has displays and interactives, classes, a family night, and camp-ins.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is an African-American cultural museum with a number of exhibits and displays, walking tours of Little Rock, education programs, and special events.

The Arkansas Arts Center houses a museum school, youth theater program, and an extensive collection of art, particularly drawings ("any unique work on paper").

The William J. Clinton Presidential Center is in downtown Little Rock, near the river, and is a museum, library, archive, and park showcasing the presidency of Arkansas' only US President.

The Historic Arkansas Museum houses artifacts and items from Arkansas frontier days through to the modern era, including some log buildings transported to the site from their original locations. Activities include living history events.