OPINION | REX NELSON: Hub of Vacationland


We would laugh at the sign in downtown Prescott when I was a boy growing up in Arkadelphia. It declared Prescott, a town we passed through on the way down U.S. 67 to Texas, to be the "Hub of Vacationland."

I've never known anyone who spent an entire vacation in the Nevada County seat, but I did spend the morning recently at the Nevada County Depot and Museum. The museum is in the city's 1912 depot, which became vacant when passenger train service to Prescott ended in 1968. The city purchased the building and adjoining parking lots from Missouri Pacific in 1970 for $1.

The depot was used for meetings, but the noise of passing trains proved too much. It later was used only for storage until several exhibits were set up inside during the city's 1972 centennial celebration. A group of area residents formed an organization whose goal was to create a state park at the Prairie D'Ane battlefield, where there was a skirmish during the Civil War. The depot served as the Nevada County State Park Association headquarters.

The Prescott Chamber of Commerce moved into the building in 1976. Additional history exhibits were installed with John Teeter as curator. In 1977, the Nevada County Historical Society nominated the depot for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination was successful.

Meanwhile, the Nevada County State Park Association became a nonprofit organization with a goal of keeping the museum open to the public in addition to bringing a state park to Prairie D'Ane. No state park ever came to Prescott, but the depot received a grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program for renovations. Another grant came in 2000 from the Arkansas Highway Commission, and the association's name was changed to Nevada County Depot and Museum.

Though we didn't vacation in Prescott, I knew people who went there to view the body of Old Mike, a traveling salesman who died in 1911. The body was embalmed and open for public viewing for more than 60 years.

"Mike visited Prescott about once a month to sell pens, paper and thread to homes and businesses near the railroad tracks in the center of town," writes historian David Sesser. "He would arrive on the southbound 3 p.m. train and stay overnight. The next day, he would board the 3 p.m. train and continue his journey. On April 11, 1911, Mike probably attended an outdoor revival in the city park. The next day, his body was found underneath a tree in the park, where he had apparently died of a heart attack or stroke.

"The body was taken to Cornish Funeral Home, where it was embalmed. A search of Mike's belongings didn't turn up any identification. What was known about Mike was that he was 40 to 45 years old, spoke English with little accent, was probably Italian, had suffered some type of injury to his right arm and leg (possibly the effects of a stroke) and had had elaborate dental work done. The body was placed on display at the funeral home in hopes of someone identifying it. No one came forward to identify or claim the body."

As crass as it sounds, the body turned into a tourist attraction. Finally, the state attorney general's office in 1975 asked funeral home officials to bury Old Mike. He was buried on May 12, 1975.

Like so many towns in rural Arkansas, Prescott has struggled economically in recent decades. Its population declined from 4,103 in the 1980 census to 3,101 in the 2020 census.

Prairie D'Ane battlefield is within sight of Interstate 30. Fighting took place there during what was known as the Camden Expedition. After capturing Little Rock and Fort Smith in September 1863, Union forces controlled much of Arkansas. In March 1864, an attack on northwest Louisiana and eastern Texas was launched from Arkansas and New Orleans.

Union Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele left Little Rock on March 23, 1864. The main body of the Confederate Army in Arkansas, led by Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, operated out of Camden. The Confederate state government had moved its operations to Washington in Hempstead County.

"Price's main objective was to protect Washington," Sesser writes. "On April 7, the Confederate forces from Camden further reinforced the units in the field. When the units from Camden arrived, Price took control of the entire army. Federal troops were also receiving long-awaited reinforcements. ... On April 9, Union Brig. Gen. John Thayer's Frontier Division from Fort Smith finally reached Steele, and the combined armies continued their march.

"Thayer's men were short of food, and Steele had to request that rations be sent immediately from Little Rock. On April 10, Steele's men reached Prairie D'Ane. The Confederates had been building earthworks for six days, and Union troops began building their own defensive positions about a mile away. Prairie D'Ane consists of open, rolling land surrounded by forests. For the next two days, the Union and Confederate armies exchanged an occasional artillery shell and engaged in limited skirmishing. Neither side wished to force a major engagement."

For the most part, soldiers were able to relax and do everything from hunting rabbits to writing letters. There were several small attacks. The last fighting occurred about midnight on April 11. The battlefield at Prairie D'Ane still looks much as it did at the time of the Civil War. On Feb. 23, 2018, an acquisition ceremony was held to present the deed for 808 acres of the battlefield to the Nevada County Depot and Museum.


Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.


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