The Old State House was the Arkansas State Capitol from 1842-1912. The vote to secede from the Union in 1861 happened here. After the new capitol was built, this building was used as a medical school and then turned into a museum.
This is at least the fourth time I’ve toured it. I first went with my parents when I was a kid, and for a long time I hung on to a brochure from that visit. I visited once or twice during family visits in the 1980’s. I went again with a group of men from work when we were in Arkansas for a Baptist pastors conference. And I went on this day with my wife.
The old house of representatives has been restored. There are permanent displays on governors, first ladies’ gowns, and the building itself. Several rooms that usually contain special exhibits were empty this time because — or so we were told by the lonely lady behind the counter in the gift shop — things haven’t ramped back up since Covid. The only special exhibit this time was about the different bands and musicians that have performed in the local arena. It mostly consisted of album covers and so wasn’t all that interesting.
We only saw one other visitor while we were there. The lady in the gift shop made a huge fuss over us. I asked if things were always that slow during the week. She said yes, which explains why she was so very happy to see us. We had a hard time escaping from the conversation.