July 19, 1941

The first state-supported history museum in Arkansas, Historic Arkansas Museum (then under the name Arkansas Territorial Capital Restoration, commonly shortened to Arkansas Territorial Restoration) opened, featuring the “Territorial Capitol” (Hinderliter House) and three other antebellum structures. Originally consisting of a half-block of historic houses in downtown Little Rock (Pulaski County), the museum site has expanded to the equivalent of two city blocks and now features a wide array of programs. The first history museum in Arkansas accredited by the American Association of Museums (1981), Historic Arkansas Museum has become—with the Old State House—the de facto state history museum. Its mission emphasizes the frontier period and the work of Arkansas’s artists and artisans from prehistoric times to the present.