The city of Jacksonville holds a special place in my heart. It’s the city where I graduated high school (North Pulaski High), taught high school (Jacksonville High) and where my parents have lived for the past 30 years. I have a lot of fond memories of going up and down Jacksonville’s Main Street, eating at the Wendy’s after football games and perusing the aisles of now-defunct stores such as Blockbuster and Hastings.
I also remember driving past the large white building in downtown Jacksonville that at the time operated as a funeral home and is now home to the Jacksonville Museum of Military History.
Before it was a museum and funeral home, it was the original administration building of the World War II–era Arkansas Ordnance Plant. The museum showcases significant war and home-front activities in central Arkansas from the Civil War era through the Cold War.
The museum opened in May 2005 and was funded by private donations, state and federal grants and the Jacksonville Advertising & Promotions Commission. Its original mission was to preserve the history of the important contributions made by local ordnance plant workers during World War II. As planning progressed, museum staff and supporters decided that the scope of the museum should grow to include more about the military history of Jacksonville and the surrounding area.
The museum is full of exhibits and artifacts that tell the history of Jacksonville’s military heritage. Its Civil War exhibit interprets what is known as the Little Rock Campaign and focuses on the Battle of Reed’s Bridge (a.k.a. the Battle of the Bayou Meto), which took place on the Bayou Meto River just outside present-day Jacksonville.
The World War II portion of the museum features an exhibit dedicated to the Arkansas Ordnance Plant, which opened in 1941 in Jacksonville. The plant was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease program. Before the end of the war, the plant increased Jacksonville’s population of 400 to more than 40,000. It provided much-needed employment during the post-Depression era and produced nearly 90% of all the detonators and fuses used by the Allied Forces during World War II. An original guard house from the Arkansas Ordnance Plant has been restored and now stands in front of the museum.
The museum houses one of the largest collections of World War II-era patriotic and propaganda posters in the country, as well as a Titan II missile launch console and a T-37 cockpit trainer. The museum also features exhibits that tell the histories of the Little Rock Air Force Base and the Arkansas Air National Guard.
Also located on the museum’s grounds is a monument dedicated to the workers who died in the Titan II Missile Accident, which took place near Searcy on Aug. 9, 1965. Fifty-three workers were killed — the largest loss of life ever suffered in a U.S. nuclear weapons facility — including my uncle, James C. Harvey. The monument was originally placed at the entrance of the nearby Little Rock Air Force Base, but was moved to the museum grounds several years ago.
Whether you are a military history buff, interested in Arkansas history, or simply looking to expand your knowledge of the history of America’s armed forces, the Jacksonville Museum of Military History is a wonderful place to visit in central Arkansas.
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and veterans and $1 for students. Special arrangements can be made for groups of 10 or more. For more information, visit the museum’s website at www.jaxmilitarymuseum.org.
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