Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources

The Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources is a museum and Arkansas state park in Smackover, Arkansas, in the United States. The museum was formed in the 1980s to tell the history of the petroleum industry and later the brine industry as key economic movements spurred by natural resources in South Arkansas.

Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources
Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources' location in Arkansas
EstablishedMay 1986 (as the Arkansas Oil and Brine Museum)
Location3853 Smackover Highway, Smackover, Arkansas
Coordinates33°20′13.2″N 92°42′52.6″W
WebsiteArkansas Museum of Natural Resources

History

Prior to the 1921 discovery of oil in nearby El Dorado, Smackover was part of the declining timber and cotton industries. With the discovery of oil in El Dorado on January 10, 1921, the area boomed with geologists looking for more.

The search for oil was then directed north towards the small town of Smackover, near the Ouachita River fault line. On July 29, 1922, the Richardson well erupted with new-found oil. Within a year of this discovery, the sleepy town of 100 boomed to over 25,000.[1]

Though not a leader in oil production, the ten county area is still producing oil today.

Location

The museum is located along Arkansas Highway 7 and contains a 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) main exhibition center, operating replicas of oil machinery, a re-created boom-era street scene in Smackover, and a 10,800 square feet (1,000 m2) collection/archive center.[2]

See also

References
  1. Staff (2005). Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources Brochure (PDF). Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  2. Staff. Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
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