What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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10 WHAT'S UP! DECEMBER 9-15, 2018 COVER STORY 1951, was purchased by Rex Spivey, a farmer on the east side of Rogers, from Newt Hailey's tractor dealership — which was located just behind Hailey's car dealership. It was donated by Joe Spivey and returned to virtually the same place it started. "It only belonged to one family, and it probably never went more than 20 miles outside Rogers," Burroughs says, pointing enthusiastically to dirt in the tire treads that came from the Spivey farm, stains from the exhaust still visible and even some minor renovation undertaken by Joe Spivey. "It's all … real." Real connections That, says Burroughs, has always been the goal of the Rogers Historical Museum, both in the past and into the future. He wants to tell real stories of real people, and he wants to do it in interactive ways that capture the imagination of young and old alike. "I challenge you to find a more interactive museum anywhere," he says, not just in computer screens, but in train bells that ring, a simplified switchboard where kids can call around the children's area, a slide inside a facade of Rogers Public High School and even an original concrete chair from Monte Ne, finally rescued from display outdoors at Frisco Park and moved to the museum. It weighs about 3,000 pounds, Burroughs says, so getting it into the new space wasn't easy. It took that same collaborative spirit that everything else at the museum has — experts from Nabholz Construction, in this case, and a heavy- duty forklift. The first thing visitors will see, however, is the original line of the Hailey Building, a 1947 Art Deco brick structure that was, according to historian James Hales, "considered the most attractive building in town." Heavily modified in the 1980s by the owners of the Northwest Arkansas Morning News, it looked colonial until contractors started peeling off the facade — and found the original curved line of the windows and the original terrazzo floor, which Burroughs says would cost thousands of dollars to re-create today. When the Vitrolite glass tiles were revealed, that was the icing on the cake, Burroughs says. "We knew it was all here." Just to the left of the lobby is the Dick and Nancy Trammel Gallery, already in use as a meeting place for community groups. It seats between 100 and 120, Burroughs says, and gives the museum a space to host all kinds of small events. RHM Continued From Page 9 See RHM Page 12 NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Museum director John Burroughs says this exhibit, created by Sam Syzdek of Mulberry, is the "best and most accurate model" of the Van Winkle Mill, which existed between 1850 and 1890 east of Rogers. Timeline Continued From Page 9 by James D. Yates. The name was changed to Benton County Motors. 1965 — The name changed again to Randall-Sanders Ford-Mercury, owned by Clyde Randall from Fort Smith and managed by Bob Sand- ers. A new Ford Mustang sold for $2,461.46 that year. 1967 — Randall-Sanders Ford moved to the southwest corner of U.S. 71 Business and New Hope Road. 1969 — Everett Pate of the Rogers Daily News renovated the Hailey Building for the newspaper, chang- ing the front of the structure to a Colonial design. 1974 — The Rogers Historical Museum was created as the community's Bicentennial project. Vera Key was chairwoman of the nine-member commission charged with developing the museum. 1975 — The Rogers Historical Museum opened on Oct. 25 in a 1905 former bank building. A part- time clerk was the only paid staff member. 1982 — The museum moved from its rented space to the Hawkins House on South Second Street, which had become the property of the city through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Hawkins and family, who partially donated the property. The first director, Marianne Woods, was hired that year. 1985 — The Friends of the Museum began a successful campaign for funds for a new 5,600-square-foot addition, which was named in honor of Vera Key. Courtesy Photo The Rogers Historical Museum was created in 1974 as the community's Bicentennial project. Vera Key was chairwoman of the nine-member commission charged with developing the museum. File Photo Built in 1895 by the Matthew brothers for the Oakley family, in 1900 this house at 322 S. Second St. in Rogers was sold to Francis Cunningham Hawkins, who ran a livery stable on South First Street. Three generations of the Hawkins family lived there until shortly before the house became home to the Rogers Historical Museum in 1982. See Timeline Page 12