Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, Petroleum history museum in Smackover, United States.
The Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources is a museum and state park in Smackover, Arkansas. Its main exhibition center covers 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) and holds operating replicas of oil machinery and a re-created boom-era street scene in Smackover. A separate 10,800-square-foot (1,000 m2) collection and archive center is part of the site.
The museum commemorates the 1922 discovery of the Richardson Number 1 well, which marked the start of oil extraction in Smackover. This discovery transformed the region and attracted workers and businesses to the area.
The recreated street scene reproduces Smackover's boom-era commercial strip, when the town grew from about 100 residents to over 25,000 within a year of the July 29, 1922 Richardson Number 1 well. Visitors walk past storefronts furnished as they were during that rush, when geologists and roughnecks arrived looking for oil.
The museum is a state park site in Smackover, with a 25,000 sq ft main exhibition center and a separate 10,800 sq ft collection and archive center. The re-created boom-era street scene and the operating oil machinery replicas sit indoors, so the exhibits can be seen whatever the weather. Allow time for both the exhibition hall and the archive building.
The museum holds a 10,800 sq ft collection and archive center alongside its 25,000 sq ft main exhibition hall. Inside, a re-created boom-era street scene reproduces Smackover as it looked during the oil rush, and operating replicas of oil machinery stand in the exhibition center.
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