New Cane Hill museum takes residents back in time

CANE HILL, Ark. (AP) — The line of people was quiet as they stepped over the threshold of the new Historic Cane Hill Museum for the first time to see histories and memories on display.

Gretchen Cane stopped in front of a photograph of a man playing the banjo. The photo was labeled: Booth Campbell, 1935. Campbell was a Cane Hill native and a prominent banjo player who participated in the Ozark Folk Festival.

"When I was a little girl, he used to play on the porch of the house out there, and you could hear it all down Cane Hill," Cane said.

Residents and their descendants donated dresses, art, photographs and furniture to the museum. Cane said she donated a dress and painting.

Cane and her husband, Daniel, both of Edmond, Okla., plan to retire to Cane Hill in the next few years, she said. The area is full of beauty and history, she said.

"Just a lot of memories here for us," Cane said.

History runs deep in Cane Hill, residents said.

Cumberland Presbyterians from Crystal Hill settled the community in 1827. Schools were established in 1834, and Cane Hill College opened in 1855, according to a brochure called "A History of Cane Hill College" available at the museum. Around the same time, the Cane Hill Female Seminary began in the community of Clyde, 1.5 miles to the south.

The Cane Hill College was burned by Union troops during the Civil War but reopened in 1865. A decade later, it merged with Cane Hill Female Seminary.

The college burned again in 1885 and was opened in 1887. The school closed for good around 1956, said Jeannie McClellan Kisner, a sixth-generation resident of Cane Hill. Books from the school's old library line a wall in the front lobby of the museum. Among Kisner's favorite spots is a view of the community from the college, she said.

Cane's family has had land in Cane Hill 88 years -- relatively a short time, Cane said. She remembers summer vacations at her grandparents' Cane Hill home. Her parents moved to the community in 1990, she said.

Cold rain didn't stopped Cane and about 40 people -- some who traveled from Oklahoma and Missouri -- from coming to the museum's grand opening Saturday morning. The community has spent the past few years restoring buildings, including the Shaker Yates Grocery building where the museum is while Cane Hill College is being restored.

At its new location, the museum is opened 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, the Northwest Arkansas Times(http://bit.ly/1FVP23R ) reports.

"We want people to come continually, not just a one-time thing," Kisner said.

Kisner is a museum board member and a volunteer who tells visitors stories about Cane Hill. One of her relatives came to Cane Hill as a surveyor in the 1820s, she said. Kisner's mother, now in her 90s, still lives in Cane Hill.

When the community was founded, people focused on religion and education, Kisner said. Cane Hill was known as an education center, Kisner said. It focused on religion and education, she said. At one time, the community had three Presbyterian churches and a Methodist church, said Bobby Braly, executive director for Historic Cane Hill, Inc.

"When you grew up here -- it was like growing up 100 years ago in the past," Kisner said. "There was a Southern graciousness about Cane Hill."

The community of about 200 people is only about 20 miles from Fayetteville on Arkansas 45, but residents know not to bother with mobile phones. Cell phones often don't work in Cane Hill. TV reception is spotty too, Kisner said. The pace is peaceful in Cane Hill, Kisner said. The road to the museum winds around abandoned houses, fields lined with old oak trees and new-growth woodlands.

Next door to the museum, the A.R. Carroll building that served as a drug store until the 1930s has been turned into a community space with art studios upstairs, said Braly. The college -- where some residents went to primary school until the 1950s -- is expected to be restored in a couple of years, said John Mitchell, a volunteer at the museum. The Methodist Manse next to the museum's parking lot also is slated for restoration, Braly said.

The Manse building is the oldest building in its original location in Washington County, Braly said. The 1834 building once served as headquarters for a union commander, he said. Now, the red brick structure has a door but no roof.

Sixteen buildings in Cane Hill are on the National Register of Historic Places, Braly said. He hopes to add more, he said.

Eventually, there will be a walking trail to tour the historic buildings, Braly said. He sees Cane Hill as a budding destination for history buffs, he said. Maybe people who moved away for jobs will come back, Braly said. Like he did.

Cane Hill has a nostalgic feel, residents said. Friends and family played Domino's and told stories about growing up in the lobby of the museum Saturday.

Mitchell said he volunteered at the museum because he's interested in genealogy and history. He loves Cane Hill, he said. His family has been in Northwest Arkansas since around 1830, Mitchell said.

"Now, they are all gone, and I'm about the only one left," Mitchell said. "I feel the attachment of history."

___

Information from: Northwest Arkansas Times, http://www.nwaonline.com

An AP Member Exchange shared by the Northwest Arkansas Times

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.