Duke has plans for Depot Museum

By Staff, 01/9/18 1:40 PM

PRESCOTT – Judy Duke, curator of the Nevada County Depot and Museum, has a lot of plans for the museum this year.

Her primary goal is to complete the acquisition of the Prairie D’Ane Civil War battlefield. She’ll be working with Friends of the Battlefield and the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office on how to get started using both Elkins Ferry and Prairie D’Ane to make the two sites work for the community as tourist attractions.

She said plans are to have an acquisition ceremony next month for the Prairie D’Ane site.

She’ll be attending a conference with the Arkansas Museum Association in March to see where museums are going and what’s new.

Duke is in the process or reorganizing the archival room, eliminating items that aren’t museum quality and putting things that are alike together. The idea is to get different displace cases for the museum which will be more user friendly and literally hands on. Her goal is to have smaller displays and more of them. “I’d like the displays to be more touchable and have interactive displays for children.”

If possible, she wants to have a workshop for students during the summer to help them understand the history of Prescott and Nevada County. This, she said, is in the planning stages at this time.

Peggy Lloyd, a member of the museum’s board of directors, has written another grant for Arkansas Heritage. This one stresses nature and will focus on natural landscape and biodiversity of the area. If it’s approved, the money will be used to purchase portable, reusable display boards. Photos will be taken of the Falcon bottom, Prairie D’Ane, Elkins Ferry and White Oak Lake.

The museum, she said, will again participate in the Fall Festival and also host Christmas activities. Duke also plans to have a patriotic program for July and have a display in Novembers for Veteran’s Day for veterans of all wars.

Overall, she said, the museum will eventually have six categories for displays – sports, education, communication, war, local business and Prescott history.

The museum will have a Civil War display as it’s part of the area’s history and heritage and needs to be preserved for future generations. In addition, she said, she’ll be working on a train display as trains played a major part in the history of Prescott.

She’s also looking for volunteers to help at the museum. The museum is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. “We’re open to suggestions,” Duke said. “We also take donations and would love new members. I plan on doing a membership drive this month.” Memberships start at $15 for an individual and go up to $150. Donations are also tax deductible as the museum is a 501(c)3 organization.