Company Profile
Shiloh Museum of Ozark History
Company Overview
The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History is a free, regional museum dedicated to the history of the Arkansas Ozarks. Since 1968 the museum has developed and provided resources to engage, inform, and inspire on-site and virtual visitors alike in the exploration of the Arkansas Ozarks. Inviting exhibits walk visitors through regional history from the earliest native inhabitants to the exciting growth in Northwest Arkansas today. Interactive and hands-on features entertain both the young and young-at-heart. Changing exhibits and a photo gallery provide new and innovative approaches to local history. The museum’s heart is the research library which offers a wealth of resource and study materials, as well as the largest collection of historic images in the state, to researchers, genealogists, writers, students and teachers, and the media. Illustrated talks, outreach presentations, onsite tours, curriculum-driven programs, loanable discovery boxes, and teacher in-service trainings are offered through the museum’s active education department. The collections department accepts, researches, and cares for donations of historic materials which serve to more fully tell the story of the Arkansas Ozarks.
Along with a modern museum center which houses the exhibits, library, collections, museum store, educational spaces, and staff offices, the Shiloh Museum campus includes more than two wooded acres which served as the original Shiloh town site. (Shiloh was the name of the original community which is known today as Springdale.) Seven historic buildings on the grounds, along with walking paths and picnic tables, invite visitors to explore and take respite in a place reminiscent of less hectic times, while still in the middle of downtown Springdale.
Can’t visit the museum in person? Visit us virtually on our website or download our podcast programs. Or join us on Facebook, Springdale History on Facebook, Twitter, or Springdale History on Twitter.
The museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed only on Sundays, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year’s Day. There is no charge for admission. For more information call 479-750-8165 or [email protected].
Company History
The Shiloh Museum began in 1965 with the City of Springdale's purchase of a significant body of Native American artifacts. The City then hired a part-time director and appointed a board of trustees. On September 7, 1968, the Museum opened to the public. The name chosen for the Museum was Shiloh, the name of the settlement and church established in the 1840s on the site of present-day Springdale.
The Museum grew throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including the hire of a full-time professional director, new educational programs, and new exhibits. One grant-funded project, Vanishing Northwest Arkansas, resulted in a collection of over 100,000 images; today the archive preserves well over half a million images. In the 1980s, four historical buildings were moved onto the property to join an 1870s town home already there.
In 1991, after five years of fund raising and construction, the Museum moved into a new building. Two years later the board changed the name to "Shiloh Museum of Ozark History" in order to more clearly define its scope. In 1995, a 1920s barn was moved onto the site and in 2005, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows donated their 1871 meeting hall, located one block to the north, to the Museum.
A podcast program initiated in 2006 and iTunesU offerings initiated in 2008 today reach more than 35,000 people annually who download content. A new mission and logo were created in 2006. The Museum has been honored with 50 state or national awards, including the Arkansas Museums Association’s “Museum of the Year” award for 1982, 1991, 2004, and 2008, and second place in the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism’s 2001 Top Ten “Best Destination in Arkansas.”