It was "Green Friday" yesterday at the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, when museum staff and visitors celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Arkansas State Parks system.
Early Friday afternoon, Park Interpreter Paige Creed led a family visiting from Texas on a guided tour through the museum, before inviting them and other museum guests into the Natural Resources Museum's auditorium for a program on the centennial.
There, guests participated in "Once Upon an Arkansas: A Readers Theater," which outlined the history of the state parks system.
Dr. T.W. Hardiman first had the idea to have Petit Jean Mountain declared a national park. When that idea fell through, he led the charge for Arkansas to establish a state parks system. In 1923, Petit Jean State Park was officially established.
"And in 1996, Arkansas passed the 75th Amendment, which was basically a conservation amendment, which took an eighth of the sales tax in Arkansas to go toward Arkansas State Parks, Game and Fish Commission, Keep Arkansas Beautiful and the Arkansas Heritage Commission," Creed said.
Afterwards, guests were treated to cupcakes.
Creed said that state parks like the Natural Resource Museum serve an important role in preserving history.
"I think it's connecting people with their history and providing that culture," she said. "They learn something about their own history that they didn't know. It's something to be proud of; it's also something just to be aware of and to learn the lessons and mistakes that were made down here."
All year, state officials have been celebrating the centennial anniversary, including First Gentleman Bryan Sanders, who pledged at the start of the year to visit all 52 of Arkansas's state parks. Creed said the Museum of Natural Resources has held several commemorations this year, in particular cleanups of the museum grounds.
"We've done a couple of cleanup days, where we had volunteers come out and kind of clean up the park. Actually, I had them clean out the education supplies when I did the day, and also, several volunteers came out to clean up some of our collection with the curator and the director, so that was pretty cool," Creed said.
The Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources is unique in that it doesn't offer camping or sports on its grounds, but Creed noted that there is an outdoor component to the park.
"We're not a camping place or a lake place or really considered outdoor recreation, but we do still have an outdoor aspect," she said. "We do try to, when school groups come, we do actually take them out through the walking path."
Founded in 1977, the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources takes visitors through the history of the South Arkansas oil boom, from the first gusher at the Busey Well to the modern-day operations of major oil companies. The museum has a replica of Smackover's main street circa 1921, when oil was struck there, and detailed scientific data about the underground wells.
"I think that state parks are just a way for someone to come and learn about their local history and be able to engage with it," she said. "Like these people said, you learn a lot every time you come here," she continued, referring to the family she toured the museum with.
Many times, even local residents will visit the museum for the first time and be surprised how much it offers, Creed said.
"I have so many people that come in here and say, 'I've driven by here a thousand times and I've never stopped,' and you know, this is a great place," she said. "People do come in and say, 'this is one of the best state parks that I've been to,' and I live right down the road. It's amazing to me that there's a free resource like the museum."
One of the women who toured the museum said she learned a lot on Friday.
"It's very educating – there's so much you can read when you walk through," she said.
Friday's program was the final centennial celebration of the year for the Museum of Natural Resources, but Creed did note that the museum's Holiday Lights Extravaganza will continue through Dec. 23. The event is held on Friday and Saturday nights from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at a cost of $10 per car at the museum, 4087 Smackover Highway.
Creed urged those who haven't visited the museum before -- as well as those who have -- to come by and learn about the local history.
"Come out," she said. "I know that not everyone is, they think 'history -- that's not going to be any fun in there,' but then when they come, they realize that it is kind of fun."
For more information about the Arkansas Museum of Natural History or other Arkansas State Parks, visit arkansasstateparks.com.
Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources Park Interpreter Paige Creed talks about a replica "boomtown," simulating the early days of Smackover after its oil boom in June 1921. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources Park Interpreter Paige Creed uses a visual aid to demonstrate how much funding Arkansas State Parks receive. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)