Second heritage tour set

By submitted, 05/15/18 6:26 PM

Second Tour for Arkansas Heritage Month Scheduled by the Depot Museum in Prescott

The second of three tours by the Nevada County Depot Museum is scheduled for Thursday, May 24,.  The tour will leave the museum on Highway 67 at 12:30 PM and return at approximately 4:30 PM.

The theme this year is natural heritage sites associated with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.  The tour will stop at the Watts Cemetery in southern Nevada County, a 19th century family and community cemetery notable for its remarkable ironwork and at the Dockery site at Lamartine in northern Columbia County.  The Dockery site was the home of Colonel John Dockery and his son Confederate General Thomas P. Dockery. 

The tour will then move along Highway 355 to the Falcon Bottoms in southern Nevada County, an Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission site, for a short walk in a natural area marked by its great beauty.  The waters of the Falcon Bottoms continue into Lafayette and Columbia Counties to form Dorcheat Bayou, which in turn flows into Louisiana and on into Lake Bisteneau near Shreveport.  The tour will return to Prescott via Falcon, an early market town in southwest Arkansas, and Bodcaw.

The tours are free, but registration is required.  To register or to get answers to questions, call Depot Museum Curator Judy Duke at 870-887-5821 or e-mail her at curator@depotmuseum.org.  The museum is open from 10:00 AM to noon and from 1:00 PM to 4 PM, Tuesday to Friday.  The tours are limited to fifteen participants with a driver and tour guide. 

The tour is not strenuous, but some walking is involved.  Comfortable shoes and clothing are suggested.  Insect repellent and sunscreen may also be options.  Participants may also wish to bring their cameras for photography in some very beautiful natural and historic areas.

The third and final tour of Arkansas Heritage Month will be on Thursday, May 24, 2018, from 1 to 4 PM.  The tour will visit the Elkins’ Ferry and Prairie D’Ane National Historic Landmarks and Moscow Church and Cemetery.  These sites are notable for the natural heritage they contain as well as their Civil War historic value.