Halloween Trick-or-Treating

Looking for a safe alternative to door-to-door trick-or-treating this Halloween?  Kids, bring your parents to the Potts Inn Museum in Pottsville, Arkansas for some 1800's style trick-or-treating fun!  We'll have trick-or-treating at all the museum buildings: 8 in all!  Plus bobbing for apples and free stagecoach rides! 

Don't miss the fun!  Saturday, October 29, 2-4 pm at the Potts Inn Museum, 15 Birch St., Pottsville, Arkansas!

Trick or Treating

PJHS Jr. Beta Members  Thanks for a great day, kids! 

Face-painting by Jr. Beta Member

Links to Pope County Articles

Here's an interesting article about the Butterfield Stage.

Photo of John Butterfield, founder of the Butterfield Stage and Overland Mail Company.  His vision and entrepreneurial spirit helped settle the Arkansas River Valley.

News at the Potts Inn!

We have several items of news to report about the museum!  First, we are now able to offer Arkansas History Professional Development hours at the museum.  Our first scheduled group of teachers is the Pottsville k-8 teachers of Arkansas History in February.  I sure hope they don't mind being guinea pigs!  That process was a little intimidating to say the least.  First there's dealing with the Arkansas Department of Education which is daunting in itself.  Then there's the technology...posting profiles, making the title search-friendly, and meeting all the requirements of PD for teachers!  Luckily, I had the assistance of a very helpful lady at the ADE, and I made it through...  Unfortunately for her, I have edited the title a couple of times and that means she has to approve the whole program again!  Sorry!

Next, the museum was featured in the Atkins Chronicle newspaper with a photo of our own Margaret Motley on the front page!  Teachers from Craighead County, touring our area, stopped for a tour of the museum, and from the comments we received, they were delighted!  In addition, a representative from www.Arkansasonline.com is coming to tour.  Hopefully we'll get some positive promotion from that visit! 

Last, sadly, I  will no longer be employed at the museum after July 30.  "sniff, sniff"  I have enjoyed every minute of my summer as tour guide at the museum!  I will be available to help with special events, planning and promoting the museum everywhere I go!   My replacement, Alicia Powell, will do a fantastic job.  She already has so many great ideas.  She is young and enthusiastic!  Go by and visit with Mrs. Alicia and take a tour of the Potts Inn Museum!!!

Christmas in July!

I was browsing the aisles at Wal-mart today and they have moved the canning supplies and replaced them with school supplies! Really?  It happens every year! Right after July 4---it's back to school shopping time!

Well, how about moving Christmas shopping up a little too?  We have just received the 2011 Ornaments for the Potts Inn Museum Gift Shop! They are adorable, thanks to Benita Drew of Benita's Photography in Pottsville! She is so talented and here's the proof!



Here's the 2011 Christmas Ornament
A photo of the Falls-Sinclair Grocery Building and
with several period cars parked out front.









There are still plenty of the beautiful 2010 ornaments left also!

I told you she was talented!  But don't take my word for it, come down to Potts Inn Museum and take a look! These fantastic ornaments are only $10.00. Perfect gift for a teacher, Sunday School teacher, babysitter, hair stylist, BFFs, anyone on your list! 

The Butterfield Overland Mail

Other than the Pony Express, how did early settlers receive their mail?  Ever wondered?  The Potts Inn was a stagecoach stop on the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach Line which was also a mail carrier service.  The company was organized by John Butterfield in 1857 who negotiated a contract with the U.S. Postal Service to carry all letter mail from St. Louis and Memphis to San Francisco.  The postal rate was 10 cents a letter.
            
Passengers paid $200 to travel from St. Louis to San Francisco.  "Way passengers" were sometimes picked up between stations and paid 10 cents per mile. 

What is known of the stops and stations along the Memphis, Tennessee to Ft. Smith, Arkansas line has been gathered from newspapers and from accounts of travelers.  The first station was Madison on the St. Francis River.  The Des Arc station was operated by M.M. Erwin, located on the main street.  The next station was the Atlanta Hotel at the town of Atlanta, an early name from Austin, run by J.J. Peebles.  In Little Rock, the well-known Anthony House stood on the east half of the block bounded by  Markham, Scott, Cherry (Second), and Main Streets. Next came Augustus Hartje's log tavern near Rocky Gap, four miles southwest of Conway, later called the "Old Stage Coach house."  Following the line one came next to Lewisburg, on a bluff about half a mile upstream from the bridge across the Arkansas on the road from Morrilton to Petit Jean State Park.  From Lewisburg, the route was by way of Hurricane, Potts' Station to Norristown.  Little is known of specific stopping places between Pottsville and Ft. Smith.  The site of Norristown is now a field. 

Passengers could never be sure of their arrival time or date or that of the mail due to weather and road conditions.  Imagine waiting days or weeks for news of the outside world--letters and newspapers.  In our Age of Information, some of us would go insane waiting to hear of news from loved ones in another state.  

 The best preserved of these stations is the Potts Inn in Pottsville, Arkansas, which is a tourist destination today.  Visitors are welcomed Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 am-4:00 pm.  The charge for the tour is $5 for adults and $2 for children over 5.  Children under 5 are free.            

Sources:  "The Butterfield Overland Mail in Arkansas" by W.J. Lemke and Ted R. Worley
A visit to Potts Inn will open your eyes to the hardships of frontier life and allow you a glimpse into a "simpler" time.  After your visit, be sure to visit the gift shop for one-of-a-kind souvenirs and gifts.  Wander over to Tina's Diner for some home-style cooking.  Come see the progress and the preservation efforts of this unique Arkansas city!

Work Day at Potts Inn

     Early Saturday will find most of us sleeping in.  A few of us might brave the aisles of Wal-mart just to get a jump on the weekend rush.  But few of us are volunteering to preserve our local history.  That is just what a group of Pottsville Citizens did a couple of weeks ago.  A handful of dedicated citizens cleaned, raked, clipped and mowed the buildings and grounds of Potts Inn Museum in readiness for the summer season.

     I enjoyed a personal tour from one of the board members who proudly showed me the progress that was being made in the converted caretakers cabin/office. I was privy to a tour of the newly acquired Pottsville Grocery Building where Mrs. Margaret Motley, Potts Inn Board Member, shared future plans for the building and for the historic downtown area. Big changes are on the way for the museum and I'll share a few of those here!

This is the sign on the Caretaker's Cabin.  The cabin once housed an onsite full-time caretaker.  Now the cabin will house an office and gift shop.  The upstairs will be an area for museum archivists to preserve atrifacts.

Inside the newly rennovated office/giftshop, rough logs are exposed on the walls.

Souvenirs will be available for purchase from this corner of the Office.

The entry to the Pottsville Grocery Building.  The list denotes donors who made its purchase possible.

List of donors who made the purchase of the Pottsville Grocery Building possible.

Inside the Pottsville Grocery Building, Mrs. Motley shares the vision for rennovating/restoring the store.

Members of the Pottsville Community like Mr. George Woolf spent their Saturday cleaning, clipping, and cutting on the grounds of Potts Inn Museum.

Mr. Van Tyson and Mrs. Pam Scarber pause in their groundskeeping tasks.

The Grocery Building promotional ad.

Potts Inn Day, 4th Grade Pottsville Middle Grades

Friday, May 6, was the 3rd annual Potts Inn Day for Pottsville fourth graders.  The fourth grade students were led through the museum by Pottsville Junior High School eighth grade students in Mrs. Tina Taylor's class.  As the students toured, the leaders taught them about the history and folklore of the museum and of their home town.  These kinds of activities foster a sense of history and heritage in our Pottsville students.  There is a real sense of "ownership" among these kids that this is "their" history, and this program helps to instill that.  This program will hopefully be remembered by these students and teachers for the rest of their lives. 

Students were required by their teachers to dress in period costume for this event.  They all looked so precious in their outfits!  Pottsville is so lucky to have the teachers and parents that are willing to go the extra mile to help their students have an outstanding pioneer experience!  They are so fortunate to have a community that supports this kind of activity.  From city hall to the Potts Inn Museum Board, everyone has been so supportive and enthusiastic.  A great big thank-you to all the people who helped make this possible!

Following the tours, students experienced an afternoon of pioneer and Civil War activities.  Students rotated through several stations in which they experienced square dancing, Civil War "fan language," snacks, quilt-making, music, a Civil War soldier, "old-timey" photos, and building log cabins with Lincoln Logs.

The project was funded by a grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage as an Arkansas Heritage Month Event.