March 4, 1973

More than 4,000 people gathered at the Museum of Automobiles atop Petit Jean Mountain for a memorial service in honor of Winthrop Rockefeller, who had died on February 22, 1973, after serving two terms as governor. The museum was closed in the fall of 1975, and the remaining cars, with the exception of the governor’s personal vehicles, were sold to Harrah’s Museum in Reno, Nevada. The museum reopened in 1976. The 1951 Cadillac that Rockefeller drove to Arkansas when he made the state his home, his 1967 Cadillac limousine with a Santa Gertrudis bull sterling-silver hood ornament, and his 1914 Cretors popcorn wagon all remain in the present museum collection.