Historic Canehill, Arkansas
Canehill, Arkansas is located in the Ozark Mountains and is closest to the town of Lincoln and Prairie Grove. Canehill is an unincorporated community in Washington County and was the first permanent settlement in Washington County. Some of the most prominent pioneers were the Cumberland Presbyterians, who arrived in Canehill by way of Logan County Tennessee, under the direction of Jacob Pyeatte. There are 18 properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 2013 Historic Cane Hill has restored/stabilized 9 historic buildings. The museum is open by appointment from 10-2 Thursday through Saturday.
Canehill college grew out of the early school that the Cumberland Presbyterians, who established CaneHill, set up in the 1830’s to 1850s. Canehill College was one of the first chartered colleges in the state of Arkansas and then later became the first co-ed college in the state. There was a women’s seminary in Clyde, Arkansas which is also in WA County, and when it closed, the female students who were there, moved to Canehill College. During the Civil War, most of the college buildings were up on the hill and all but one were destroyed. The remaining building was burned after the college reopened. The story is that it was ignited by a disgruntled moonshiner who was out of town. Regrettably, the college didn’t last long after 1886 because it closed only 5 years after that in 1891. At that point the charter from Canehill College transfered to what’s now University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas which is about an hour and a half away in Johnson County. It was called Cumberland College at the time. President Fontaine Earl moved from Canehill to be the president there and lived out the rest of his life in Clarksville.
When Canehill College closed it continued to serve the community. There were some church congregations who met there but ultimately it became a public school from the early 1900’s to the mid 1950’s. These events created a continuity of the educational legacy in Canehill; something that people who lived here have been proud of and helped preserve. For decades after the school closed and consolidated with nearby Lincoln, there was a group that kept this building standing and essentially helped kept the lights on. In effect, Historic Canehill directly benefited from those people and their dedication to keep it alive and standing for so many decades. It’s currently used for community uses such as the annual Canehill Festival committee meets there and the facility is rented out for weddings and events. When Canehill completed this building’s restoration in 2017 they brought it up to modern use by adding accessible restrooms and a kitchen. There’s also an impressive auditorium for events such as yoga classes, cooking demonstrations, and poetry readings. The college grounds is home to the Canehill Festival which features live music and hand-made crafts including blacksmithing, basket weavers and quilting. The festival occurs the 3rd weekend in September.
The first public library in Arkansas was located in the college building, so to acknowledge that, a cozy little reading nook is arranged in the museum and includes some of books from the library when it was a public school 1917-1956. After the museum was opened in this location, the historical society developed a a physical timeline detailing the beginning of the occupation by the indigenous peoples all the way up to World War II. Everything you could know about Canehill is on the timeline which hangs on the wall of the museum.
Museum Library Area
Timeline
An example of an early house was made of simple log cabins furnished with items brought to the areas as well as things manufactured locally. One of the first settlers to arrive was John Rankin Pyeatte, an accomplished furniture maker. A cannonball bed and nightstand is in one of the first museum exhibits and was made by him. Most of his furniture was made from walnut trees which still grow prolifically in Cane Hill.
Furniture made by John Rankin Pyeatte
Another exhibit showcases Canehill college. It was the 2nd college in Arkansas by only one day. Arkansas College beat them by a matter of hours being chartered by the state legislature in 1852. All historic college buildings were burned in 1864 during the civil war.
Pottery was made in Canehill at the time this place was known as Boonesboro, which is why it’s called Boonesboro pottery. The potter they know most about was JD Wilbur who Lived about half a mile and they now own his property and his historic kiln is still there.
Boonsboro Pottery
One of the reasons Canehill was settled was because of a dense concentration of springs. Settlers would locate a stream, track it back to the spring, and build their home. Because they had such good water sources there were lots of mills. One of them was the second largest overshot wheel west of the Mississippi. Unfortunately it was damaged in a flood several years back and has been removed and disassembled. There is a present ongoing effort to get that rebuilt and restored.
The first post office in Cane Hill was established in 1830. The earliest location is unknown but by 1900 it was located in the newly constructed AR Carroll Drugstore. Over the course of the town’s history, the name of the post office was changed 8 times. One of its names was Steam Hill and it underwent several other changes before finally ending up as Canehill in 1901.
Post Office (inside museum)
The bank of Canehill is not recognizable today because the half-story and gorgeous facade came off in the 1960’s. The bank was robbed early in the 20th century. A myth that Jesse James robbed that bank gets confused with another story concerning Jesse James’ sister. She lived about a mile south and was visited by Jesse James, but he didn’t rob the bank.
The Battle of Canehill was a 12 mile running battle starting on the hill near the cemetery to the north of the museum. This hour long artillery battle went for 12 miles to Cove Creek. The Confederate Forces encamped along the Arkansas River Valley near Van Buren where they eventually ran out of food and supplies . Provisions were plenty in Canehill since the mills were functional, so the Confederate forces brought their wagon trains to get resupplied but got caught by the Union Forces and the battle became a running retreat. The Confederates were trying to hold off the Union Forces long enough to get their wagons back over the hill before nightfall when everything shut down. In the end there were no winners nor losers. This occurred about 9 days before battle of Prairie Grove, another nearby town about 10 minutes away.
Both Northern and Southern soldiers would have been expected to bring their own gun, horse, saddle, whatever they lived with, worked with, hunted with. There’d be military issue for the Federals.
J Montgomery Wilson was 16 survived all 4 years of the war and has some great things to say in his memoir. This display is a Duplicate of what he would have looked like in war. This is the way southern troops would have arrive for battle. And northern. Southern would have been expected to bring their own gun, horse, saddle, whatever they lived with, worked with, hunted with. There’d be military issue for the federals.
Weapons displayed are the type that would’ve been used during the battle here. Top 2 are just squirrel rifle and double barrel shotguns. That’s what the southern guys would’ve brought with them. The lower 3 weapons are the two rifles are those that are actually used by the northern troops in the battle of cane hill. The saber would have been carried by the US calvary.
Built 1891 historic Canehill acquired the Canehill Presbyterian Church in 2018 from the Presbyterian Church USA denomination, w/understanding they’d restore it and would be used for church services as long as there is a congregation. The stained glass windows are from the 1950’s as are the pews. The restoration was complete in 2020. This church is home to a very small congregation. The chandeliers are replicas.
According to the Library of Congress website, The Cane Hill Presbyterian Church is an exquisite example of Country Gothic Revival Architecture. Built in 1891, the church walls are two foot thick rough rectangular cut blocks of native sandstone with heavy timber roof construction and a rich wooden interior that covers the floor, wainscoat, and ceiling. The building is adorned with twelve stained glass windows, each depicting a Biblical scene, that fill the spaces with ambient light. The building consists of three spaces: a square bell tower/foyer, a small rectangular parlor, and a larger rectangular sanctuary, with an apse at the west end. There is also a raised platform at the west end of the sanctuary that houses the pulpit, altar, and the choir. All the wooden furnishings are original and handmade of native black walnut by a Mr. Hanks around 1893 including the pews and altar piece. Other features of the church are an engraved communion set from Tiffany's in New York and a box grand piano brought by ox cart from Fort Smith Arkansas after the Civil War.
I recommend a visit, the road to enter is gentle and easy to access and the museum has a charming gift store and museum where you can enjoy a self-guided tour and arrange for a tour of the inside of the college, church and other areas of Historic Canehill. There are four walking trails and more information can be found at historiccanehillar.org or call: 479-824-4455
