The Historic Cane Hill Museum is located at 14335 S Hwy 45 in Canehill, AR.
The Museum is open for tours Thursday-Saturday 10:00 am – 2:00pm.
Call (479) 824-4455 ext. 2 or email museum@historiccanehillar.org to schedule a tour.
The Historic Cane Hill Museum presents even more insight into the remarkable story of Cane Hill – one of the most historically significant communities in Arkansas. The museum features a collection of objects, offering connections to the people who inhabited this community. These pieces are touchstones, providing a deeper understanding of their lives, the times they lived in, and the events they experienced.
The building itself was originally constructed around 1945 as the Shaker Yates Grocery Store. Since that time, it has also served as an antique store, the local post office, and a trophy & wooden train-whistle manufacturing workshop.
In 2015, the structure was extensively renovated to permanently house the museum collection, which was previously exhibited in the Historic Cane Hill College building during the annual festivals.
Visitors to the museum will find exhibits on the following subjects:
· American Civil War Battle of Cane Hill
· Cane Hill College
· Life in Early Cane Hill
· Ozark Folk Art: Cane Hill Style
· Early Mills
· Boonsboro Pottery
· Timeline of Cane Hill History
The museum also maintains a collection of genealogical material available to the public for research.
Hours of operation are Thursday through Saturday from 10:00am until 2:00pm.
Appointments for private and group tours are required.
The museum archaeology laboratory is an area designated for cleaning, cataloguing, and storage of excavated artifacts. The lab space is designed to resemble the office of an early 20th century archaeologist.
A collection of salt-glazed stoneware pottery made by Cane Hill potter J.D. Wilbur and his associates is featured in this exhibit. This pottery, made between 1868-1888, is known as “Boonsboro” pottery because Cane Hill was known as Boonsboro during this period.
The exhibit contains collection objects typical of basic items which would have been brought along by early settlers or fashioned by them from locally available materials. Most of the furniture in this exhibit was made by one of the earliest settlers, John Ranken Pyeatt.
The battle fought on November 28, 1862 is chronicled in graphic panels which include maps of troop movements that day. Examples of weaponry used in the battle along with a variety of artifacts recovered from the battlefield are included in the exhibition. Short biographies of eight soldiers from Cane Hill are featured.
An exhibit featuring objects typical of a turn of the century Ozark kitchen.What things have changed? What things have remained constant?
Boonsboro Pottery Exhibit
Salt-glazed stoneware jar.
Circa 1868.
Salt-glazed stoneware canning jar.
Circa 1868.
Salt-glazed stoneware churn.
Circa 1850s.
Salt-glazed stoneware pitcher.
Circa 1870s.
19th Century Art
Overshot coverlet.
Mid-19th century. Chariot Wheel variant.
Sketchbook drawing.
Mary Mock. 1877.
Oil on canvas.
Mary Mock. 1877.
Handmade fretless minstrel-style banjo.
Circa 1840s.
Mills, Merchants, and Men of the Land
Webley pistol.
Circa late 19th century.
English Horseman’s folding knife.
Circa 1905.
Stoneware churn.
Circa early 20th century.
Agriculture fair ribbons.
Circa 1933.