Arkansas Heritage Sites
Our Commitment to Preservation
The Arkansas State University Heritage Sites Office develops and operates historic properties of regional and national significance in the Arkansas Delta. These sites provide educational resources for formal and informal learning, including serving as living laboratories for students in the university’s Heritage Studies Ph.D. program. In addition, they serve as economic catalysts in communities where they are located by attracting heritage tourists from around the country.
A-State Heritage Sites also serves as an administrative agent for Arkansas Delta Byways, the official non-profit regional tourism promotion association serving fifteen counties in the Arkansas Delta. These include Arkansas, Chicot, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Drew, Greene, Lee, Mississippi, Monroe, Phillips, Poinsett and St. Francis counties. A-State Heritage Sites has been instrumental in developing and promoting two National Scenic Byways that traverse this region: the Crowley’s Ridge Parkway and the Arkansas segment of the 10-state Great River Road, which runs along both sides of the Mississippi River, from its headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.
Heritage Sites
Administration Building exhibits tell the story of this New Deal agricultural resettlement colony, while the Cash Home is furnished as it appeared when the Cash family lived there. Combine your tour with the nearby Southern Tenant Farmers Museum.
This Piggott site includes the restored barn studio where Ernest Hemingway wrote portions of A Farewell to Arms. Take a tour of the grounds and visit the museum.
This structure near Lake Village retains many of its original decorative finishes. Exhibits tell stories of those who lived and worked there.
The building, which housed the businesses of two of the organizers of the nation's first integrated agricultural union, was established in 1934. Combine your tour with a visit to the nearby boyhood home of Johnny Cash.
While not much of the site remains, a smokestack, graveyard, and tour exhibits remain to tell the story of the Japanese-American families forced to live the in Rohwer Relocation Center during WWII.
The school thrived during his 33-year tenure — from 1910 through 1943– despite challenging circumstances that included two world wars, the Great Depression, and a 1931 fire that destroyed the school’s main building.
The Impact of Local History
Learn more about A-State's Heritage Sites and find opportunities for educators in the delta region.
About A-State's Heritage Sites
Established in 1999 as the Delta Heritage Initiatives Office, Arkansas State University
Heritage Sites began as a 1997 university project supporting community-led preservation
along Crowley’s Ridge. Early work helped secure National Scenic Byway status for the
Crowley’s Ridge Parkway and later the Arkansas segment of the Great River Road.
The office promotes natural and cultural heritage as an economic driver, tourism asset,
and hands-on educational resource for ASU students and communities statewide. Renamed
to reflect its expanding mission beyond the Delta, Heritage Sites now manages university
heritage properties and provides preservation, planning, and heritage tourism assistance
across Arkansas.
Since 1999, the office has helped secure tens of millions of dollars in federal, state,
foundation, and private funding to support historic preservation, museums, scenic
byways, and cultural programs benefiting both ASU and partner communities.
Opportunities for Educators
Guided tours of the sites are aligned with state frameworks.
Tours of each site are $5/student.
You may have one free chaperone for every 8 students.
Each site offers other lessons in-person on a variety of subjects tied to state curriculum.
Please visit their sites for more information.
Educational materials are available to purchase for educators on our Marketplace site.
Additional Info
Heritage Studies Ph.D. Program
Turn your love of history and culture into a lasting impact with the only Heritage Studies Ph.D. program in the United States at A-State.
Contact Heritage Sites
Dr. Adam Long
Executive Director
Mailing Address
Arkansas State University
Heritage Sites
P. O. Box 2050
State University, AR 72467