1940s House, Antique Village Highlight DeQueen Museum

Jim Taylor, travel writer
Arkansas Tourism

DEQUEEN – A wood-case Packard Bell television occupies one corner, while sitting prominently on a table across the living room, a rather large and dial-less telephone recalls the heyday of the local switchboard operator. In the bedroom, World War II ration books, a bottle of Evening in Paris perfume and a combination cigarette-lighter-and-case provide more decadal clues.

"The 1940s House" at the Sevier County Historical Society Museum in the southwest Arkansas town of DeQueen provides visitors with a veritable "time-machine" experience, especially poignant for those who remember the decade's décor and domestic artifacts.

A Hollywood director seeking interior sets for a '40s movie depicting the South would hardly have to add or change a thing. The kitchen's dishes and its coffee maker, the sewing room's Singer treadle-style sewing machine and quilting frame, and the closets' period clothes and simple but sturdy toys all date from the '40s or were then still in common use.

On a recent tour of the house, June King, the museum's director, picked up a period fashion magazine in the bedroom and pointed to an advertisement for leg make-up. "Women couldn't get stockings during the war because all the silk was being used for parachutes. So, they'd use leg make-up and take an eyebrow pencil and draw a (stocking) seam up the back of their legs," she said.

The story of the house and its furnishings began in the summer of 1998 when the museum invited county residents to a meeting to share their memories of that decade. Oral histories were collected and area citizens began donating artifacts. The project was proving so successful, the City Of DeQueen soon contributed a house across the street from the museum to showcase the many donations. By October 10, 1998, it was open for tours.

That is typical, King said, of the local support the museum has enjoyed since its creation in 1986. In addition to the '40s house, the museum's facilities include its main building and an annex at 717 North Maple Ave., an adjacent Antique Village, and a donated Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad caboose containing railroad-related artifacts.

Built in 2000, the village includes some 10 small, replica structures containing related artifacts that are indicative of the buildings and furnishings found in DeQueen soon after its 1897 founding. Included are the Red Dog Saloon, a millinery shop, a doctor's office (which holds the city's first baby incubator), a church, and the Hotel de Horse, which bears a sign reading "Food for Man and Beast."

The hotel, DeQueen's first, originated with Mrs. James Wright's cooking and providing lodging in her home for families camping out on lots in the new town. "Her husband, taking a dim view of all these happenings," explains a museum brochure, "put up a sign...and began to charge for food and accommodations."

Now the county seat, DeQueen was created along a railroad begun in the late 1880s from Kansas City to Port Arthur, Texas, to provide rail access to Gulf of Mexico shipping for agricultural goods from the Midwest.

An economic depression beginning in 1893 dried up sources of American capital needed for completing the railway. Arthur Stillwell, who had conceived the idea for the rail line and who was then part owner of the Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Gulf Railroad, traveled to Holland in 1894 seeking investors for the project. His effort failing, he contacted Jan DeGeoijen, a coffee broker he had met on a previous trip to Europe. He convinced DeGeoijen to support the project, and in a few months the two managed to raise $3 million.

Displayed in the museum's main building are a bust of DeGeoijen and an American flag he presented to the mayor's wife when he visited his namesake town in 1927. Though named in honor of DeGeoijen, "DeQueen" was an English variation on a Dutch name the town's early residents had trouble pronouncing. The alteration did make possible one of Arkansas', if not the nation's, most agreeably curious newspaper names. The DeQueen Bee began publishing in 1897 and continues in operation.

Inside the museum's main building, numerous domestic artifacts have been sorted by function (and not era) into rooms designated as a parlor, a kitchen and a bedroom. Among the museum's other displays are a case of Native American arrowheads, tools and pottery; artifacts from Paraclifta, the county's first seat of government, including an 1849 wedding dress; historic photographs; antique cameras; school memorabilia; and dolls and other toys.

"Our purpose is to reflect the history of Sevier County and we do that pretty adequately. We try to reflect how life used to be in the 1900s and on up, and we try to keep it accurate and interesting," King said.

During the second weekend of each October, the museum hosts the Hoo Rah Days Festival featuring demonstrations of pioneer skills such as blacksmithing, flint-knapping, churning, knife-making and Native American bead working; walking tours of the village led by costumed hosts and hostesses; a turn-of-the-century costume contest; and a spelling bee. Other festival events include a chili cook-off, vintage car show, a street dance, a show by regional artists, a talent show, a motorcycle parade and a haystack treasure hunt and other games for children. Festival admission is free.

Museum admission and guided tours are also free, though donations are welcomed. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. It is closed Monday. For additional museum information, phone (870) 642-6642.