Are We There Yet?

Pine Bluff conveys history as transportation hub

A Studebaker covered wagon built around 1902 is on display at the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Historical Museum.
A Studebaker covered wagon built around 1902 is on display at the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Historical Museum.

PINE BLUFF -- It's true that Pine Bluff has seen better days, as witnessed by blocks of Main Street closed to vehicles because of danger from crumbling buildings.

But the city can boast of a robust and colorful past, on display to visitors at such attractions as the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Historical Museum, the 11 downtown murals and the Arkansas Railroad Museum.

Located in the former Union Station train depot, the historical museum "pays tribute to the days when muscle power and animal power ruled over machines." One of its most prominent artifacts is a Studebaker covered wagon, built around 1902 by the company that later became a maker of automobiles.

Pine Bluff was then a transportation hub by land as well as water, having enjoyed its greatest prosperity in the last few decades of the 19th century, thanks largely to cotton production and river commerce. It was Arkansas' third largest city in 1890 (now ranking No. 9 in population).

A covered wagon like the museum's Studebaker, according to an information panel, "was the automobile of its day. Far into the 1900s wagons were used, covered or not, to move families and supplies to and from homes, businesses and settlements. Long-distance journeys used oxen to pull the loaded wagons, as oxen would eat anything, did not need a great deal of food or water, grazed at night near camp without wandering and were calm animals."

Museum oddities include a Simmons Koffee Krusher, used to grind coffee and found around 1900 on a wrecked steamboat. Mounted at eye level is Ole Pete, a rifle brought to the area from Kentucky when Arkansas was still a territory around 1830. Ole Pete "was used to shoot down a killer named John Outlaw who had murdered James Pullen, Jefferson County clerk and postmaster of Pine Bluff."

The 11 downtown murals, painted starting in 1992, have faded in some cases. But others are still vivid, including a scene by Robert Dafford at Third Avenue and Main Street that depicts the thriving downtown of 1888.

On Main between Second and Third avenues, a mural by Michael Wojczuk honors two Pine Bluff men who were notable figures in the early making of movies: Freeman Owens developed sound-on-film technology still in use, while Max Aronson was the first famous cowboy star under the professional name "Broncho Billy" Anderson.

Pine Bluff's past as a base for the St. Louis Southwestern Railway -- fondly known as the Cotton Belt Route -- is honored at the Arkansas Railroad Museum. Located in the defunct Cotton Belt's onetime construction and repair shop, the museum is staffed by knowledgeable volunteers, some of whom worked for the line.

The museum's centerpiece, majestic enough to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is Engine 819. Built in the Pine Bluff shop in 1943, the steam locomotive is 100 feet long and weighs 358 tons with its tender. Fueled by oil, it was the last steam locomotive built in Arkansas.

Given to the city of Pine Bluff in the 1950s, it was restored and moved under its own power in 1986 for the first time in 33 years. For the next 15 years, it did a variety of excursions to the delight of train buffs. Then federal regulations put it out of service, unlikely ever to run again but still a stupendous sight.

Information on the city's attractions is available from Pine Bluff Convention and Visitors Bureau by calling (870) 536-7600 or visiting pinebluffcvb.org.

Weekend on 06/09/2016

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