MARKED TREE DELTA AREA MUSEUM

Special Thanks! To Mr. & Mrs. Jim Berry, Mrs. Joan Thompson, Mr. Sam Mullins whose efforts have resulted in the home you see today.

Further information can be obtained from and contributions sent to:

Sally A. Hazel
(Volunteer Museum Director)
Tri-City Area Cultural Council, Inc.
P.O. Box 72
Marked Tree, AR 72365

Marked Tree Delta Area Museum
P.O. Box 72
Marked Tree, AR 72365
(870) 358-4998

Soozi Williams, MTHS President

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
OUR BEGINNING
The Marked Tree Delta Area Museum had its beginnings in 1992 when a group of interested area residents met to discuss the possibility of preserving our heritage and history in a formal way. This small group of people continued to meet over the next few months and organized themselves as the Marked Tree Historical Society. In Febraury of 1993 this group voted to name the future museum it envisioned at the Marked Tree Delta Area Museum. This was shortly followed by a formal legal structure being established called the Tri-City Area Cultural Council, Inc. Whose purpose would be to serve as an umbrella organization for groups established to preserve our culture, arts, history, heritage, etc.

In May of 1993, the first public week long exhibit was held in a downtown location as part of Arkansas Heritage week. This first exhibit of historical items encuraged area residents and schoolchildren to become aware of and interested in preserving our past. Following the week long exhibit, the MTHS held its first luncheon with guest speaker, Patrick Zollner of the Arkansas Preservation Association. In 1994, a second luncheon was held with the curator, Glenda Gann, of ASU Museum present as guest speaker. In July of 1994, the museum opened its first permanent exhibit in its temporary museum location on the second floor of the Marked Tree Library.

In October of 1994, the Tri-City Area Cultural Council, Inc. recveived its recognition as an Exempt Organization from the IRS, thus allowing formal fund raising to begin for its present and future museum. In November of 1994 our initial fund drive was held and a Depression Night Event was held with Dr. Jeannie Whayne, Poinsett County Historian from the U of A as its guest speaker. In January of 1995, land was donated for the site of the permanent museum building which is on Frisco Street, adjacent to the First United Methodist Church Parsonage. In November of 1995, our medical/business museum opened in a temporary location on Frisco St.

The contents of the old Verser Hospital in Harrisburg were donated to the Museum in early 1995, and the opening oa a second eshibit area specializing in medical and business occurred on nov. 11th, 1995 in a Frisco St. location next to Schonberger's Department Store.

In 1997, a small servant house circa 1915, was moved onto the museum site and the restoration process begun.

In December 1997, with the assistance of a loan from USDA/Rural Development, groundbreaking for a new museum building took place. The new museum building was designed by architect Hardy Little III. The facade of the new building replicate the front of the old E. Ritter General Store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
OUR MUSEUM TODAY

MT Delta Area Museum - Photo by Oliver Hinds
-photo by Oliver Hinds, 1999

The Museum complex consists of a new 4800 square foot building as well as a restored and furnished servant home. The main museum building has four galleries open to the public. Behind the scenes the museum has workrooms as well as an area to maintain and store documents and do research. The galleries include an old-time general store with a reproduction of an old time ceiling. This store along with the museum's retail store also has wood floors and two ceiling fixtures that are rewired ceiling lights from the early 1900's. Heritage Hall Gallery represents "Marks of Time" with items reflecting our area's early development. Included in this history gallery are telephone switchboards, victrola, plow, loom, and spinning wheel.

The middle gallery will be used to house changing exhibits with the first exhibit displaying clothing from feedsack to elegant laces and satins.

The back gallery is the museum's medical collection and is set up with artifacts and collections from four hospital rooms of the old Verser Clinic and Hospital located in Harrisburg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
WALKER SERVANT HOUSE: HISTORY
This little three room house was built by Mr. & Mrs. Charles Walker to house the servants of the large home they had built on the corner of Poinsett and Liberty Street. The Poinsett County official tax rolls indicate only that there were buildings on this lot in 1915. However, it is believed that the Walker home was built in 1904-06 time period and that the little servant home would have been built at the same time. The large Walker home faced on Liberty and the servant house faced on Poinsett.

Walker Servant House - Photo by Oliver Hinds
-photo by Oliver Hinds, 1999

The Walkers later sold the home to Mr. & Mrs. S.P. Thompson and it was know as the "Thompson House". The Thompsons also employed servants and one of their early servants was Melinda Jefferson whose daughter, Sadie Plunkett, lived in Marked Tree till her death. Sometime during the 1920's the little house became rental property and one of the persons known to have lived in the house in 1929 was Alma Lewis Gobsey. It is also known at this time the house did not have indoor plumbing and Mrs. Gobsey relied on a water pump in the yard as well as an "outhouse". The house later was lived in by Mr. & Mrs. Powell Thompson, and their daughters, Barbara & Margaret. Marked Tree resident Noah J. Hazel recalls that he was visiting his cousins, Barbara & Margaret, when they heard on the radio that Pearl Harbor had been bombed by the Japanese. The little house remained rental property until 1996, at which time it was offered to the museum. It was moved onto the museum property in early 1997.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
WALKER SERVANT HOUSE: RESTORATION PROCESS
Since the house originally had no bathroom, the existing bathroom was removed. Using old stud discoloration on the wall as a guide, the bathroom was removed and a pantry/closet put back in the second room, and the kitchen enlarged to its original size. When the bathroom was removed, the boarded over doors on that side of the house were opened up. Those dise doors would have been facing the back of the big house; thus making it easier for servants to go back and forth between the two houses.

In the Kitchen, the stainless steel sink was removed and a wood top placed on the old wood cupboard underneath. It is believed that this counter area would have been where the family washed and rinsed the dishes as well as handling some of their personal hygience needs. The linoleum on the floor was removed revealing a badly deteriorating floor. A new wood floor had been installed.

The middle room was covered with "sheet rock" which would not have been used in the early years. In removing this wall covering return to the original walls, it was discovered that this room had been seriously damaged by fire. Behind the door in this room, you will see a small framed area that shows a little bit of the fire damage. The fire had been so extensive that it had gone up into the attic and the ceiling and several walls were "charred". The restoration committee made the decision to cover the burned wall with sheet rock again except for one wall where you can see wall boards, representative of what would have been in the house originally. The floor in this room is an original wood floor.

The wall boards and the floor in the front room are original to the house. You will notice a small can lid had been placed on a hole in the floor in this room. Throughout the house, all the windows were removed due to their rotting condition and replaced with new windows that are approximately 6'' shorter in length. At its original site, the little house was on 24" brick pilings, and when it was moved to the museum site, it again was placed on 24" pilings. These 24" pilings probably were reponsible for the little house surviving as long as it did, as it was probably above most of the water that periodically flooded Marked Tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
WALKER SERVANT HOUSE: FURNISHINGS
The house is furnished with items representing the period 1900 through 1939. Items on display have been donated by the following persons:
Dr. and Mrs. Sidney ArnoldMiss Mildred Perry
Mrs. Inez Pittman AndersonMr. and Mrs. Lonnie Scott
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence AshlockMr. and Mrs. Kyle Sumpter
Mr. and Mrs. Jim BerryMr. and Mrs. Billy Thompson
Dr. and Mrs. Darrell BroadwayDenise Vance Smith
Miss Marion DawsonDr. and Mrs. Ves Smith
Margaret Downs EastMrs. Juanita Turner
Mrs. Sam Hatley, Sr.(via Dennis Hatley)Mrs. Virginia McCarthy
Mr. and Mrs. Noah J. HazelJim Warren
Estate of Mrs Floy MooreMrs. Mary C. Williams
Mr. and Mrs. Sam MullinsMrs. Wallace Willoughby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
HALL OF HONOR
The Museum's Hall of Honor is a photographic exhibit honoring individuals whose family, relatives, friends, acquaintances, and or organizations have donated $500 or more to have a permanent photograph displayed. The individuals honored may be deceased or living, from the Tri-City Delta area and other nearby areas. In addition, family members may also wish to honor a person who is not from this area, but has a family member or relative living in this area who holds special thoughts about that person and their influence of their life.

Funds from this project will be used to help pay our mortgage as well as used to design and build exhibits, to conserve, and restore collections, and help meet operational costs of the museum.

This special way of honoring persons provides a permanent tribute that will last for years to come. To become a contributor to this special Hall of Honor project, contact:
Sally Hazel358-4272
Mary Ann Arnold358-2200
Joan Thompson358-2121
Soozi Williams358-2200
         Or call the Museum at 358-4998.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
MEDICAL MUSEUM
The museum's medical collection primarily came from the Verser Hospital Clinic in Harrisburg, Arkansas. The beginning of the Verser Medical practice began when Dr. William W. Verser came to Harrisburg to practice medicine in 1914. Dr. Verser's daughter, Evelyn Verser Waddle, tells the story that when her father had a patient who needed surgery, he would take that patient down to the train depot and ride on the train with the patient to Jonesboro and change to another train to Paragould. A medical doctor from Paragould would meet the train and take the patient to his hospital for surgery. Her father would then ride the train back to Harrisburg and begin his day's work. Often patients paid Dr. Verser in eggs and potatoes.

In the 1940's a hospital was built and Dr. Verser and his son, Dr. Joe Verser had a place where patients could come for hospitalization. Later Dr. Foriestiere came to Harrisburg to help in the practice of his specialty area of surgery. Dr. Joe Verser and his wife had an apartment in the hospital and while living there, their son was born. The story is told that Dr. Joe Verser and his wife finally left the hospital's living quaters when three year old Joe, Jr. decided he could walk the block to his aunt's drug store all by himself.

Initially, the noon meal served to patients was from a nearby restaurant and for supper, the nurses warmed the leftovers or prepared a simple meal.

Dr. Joe Verser was very active in the state medical association and for many years served as one of the officers. Many of the physicians who practiced in Arkansas medical licenses were signed by him.

The Medical Museum woodwork was stained to match the woodwork in the old hospital. The half door on the patient's room is from the hospital as well as the door numbers. Over 90% of the medical collection is from the Verser family and the rooms have been set up as much as possible to replicate the hospital. Other donors to the medical collection included:
C. Easton
Crittendon Hospital
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Berry
Jim Warren
Morris Gilliam
Mr. and Mrs. Noah J. Hazel
Nyal Drug Store
Dr. Norette Underwood
St. Bernards Hospital
Teleflora from Dr. English's Hospital in Cordwell, Missouri

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
SCRUB, SEW, and STYLE
This temporary exhibit contains articles from late 1800's through the 1950's. The clothes displayed show articles sewed from feedsacks as well as elegant and fancy "ladies and gentlemen's" clothes. Making and mending clothes as well as laundering them required special equipment and you will see the old "washtub" displayed as well as an early motorized washing machine. The beautiful Singer treadle machine was a welcome addition to the woman of the house.

Collections donors to this room are:
Otis BaileyMr. & Mrs. Jim Berry
Mrs. James BirdMrs. Maude Bolton
Mrs. Robert BoltonDr. and Mrs. Darrell Broadway
Miss Marion DawsonMrs. Mildred Doty
Mrs. Sam Hatley, Sr. (via Dennis Hatley)Mr. & Mrs. Noah Hazel
Mrs. Lucille KingMrs. Elaine Looney
Mrs. Floy MooreMiss "'Tom Boy" Rhoades
Mrs. Inez Pittman O'RoarkMr. & Mrs. Kyle Sumpter
Joan ThompsonMrs. Soozi Williams

The beautiful seasonal "Russian" Easter display was done by ROSANNA ARNOLD.

The carpenters for the back porch were TONY EDEN and DON JERRY PEARSON.

The floors done in the mannequin display were done by JIM WARREN and the partitions donated by DO3 SYSTEMS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
OUR NEEDS
Our private not-for profit museum has no paid staff and uses the talents of many area residents to prepare exhibits and act as docents. Approximately $20,000 a year must be raised to meet our mortgage obligations as we are not a tax supported organization. The Museum is also interested in adding to its collections, with wmphasis on items from the late 1800's through the 1940's. Additional docents are needed to give tours and to staff the museum on the days it is open to the public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
CORPORATE STRUCTURE
The Museum operated under the direction of our parent organization which is the Tri-City Area Cultural Council, Inc. and is a 501-C(3) corporation. The Board of Directors of this organization come from Lepanto, Marked Tree and Tyronza, and the corporation is committed to serving not only Marked Tree, but the areas surrounding us in the northeast delta land.
PresidentMary Ann Arnold
Vice-presidentBill Craft
SecretaryJohn Boxley
TreasurerAlan Wright
DirectorsRuby Jean Boxley
 Jean Casey
 Sam Mullins
 Reba McDaniel
 Mary Smith
 Joan Thompson
 Martha Watson
 Soozi Williams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         
MUSEUM STAFF
Our Unpaid Museum Staff Include:
Museum DirectorSally A. Hazel
Director of InformationSoozi Williams
TreasurerAlan Wright, CPA
Exhibits CoordinatorsMelba Berry
 Joan Thompson
AuditorNoah J. Hazel, CPA

And many hardworking volunteers without whose help the museum could not function.