Downtown Osceola site of Historical Center
OSCEOLA — The antique high-top shoe placed just outside the door into Mississippi County Historical Center in downtown Osceola is a sign of welcome that dates back more than a century.
The lone shoe tells visitors that they can enter the former dry-goods store at 209 W. Hale Ave. It reflects a practice of Fred G. Patterson, who started the shop in 1904 and operated it for 60 years until his death. Patterson often placed five or six shoe styles outdoors to indicate he was open — making sure they fit only one foot so that no passerby would be tempted to steal any.
Like a number of Arkansas’ other top county museums, the Osceola facility is operated mostly or entirely by volunteers. Visitors may have the pleasure of being shown around by one of them, Ann Moore. At age 86, she brings a rich local perspective thanks to having lived here since her teenage years.
Moore points out that some shelves behind the ex-store’s counter are still stocked with clothing and other merchandise of the sort purveyed by Patterson. An assortment of women’s hats dates to earlier days when no respectable lady would attend church or other public events with a bare head.
Near the back of the museum, a black pot-belly stove evokes small-town customs of the time before electronic entertainment. A sign notes that the stove “warmed the workers of a Frisco freight train before it found a home in Mr. Patterson’s store. Many of the world’s problems were discussed, if not settled around this prosaic and historic setting. Between customers, Mr. Patterson added his wisdom to the discussion.”
Among the vintage photographs on display is an image from Feb. 6, 1918. It shows three Arkansas men, including a judge and a lawyer, standing in the middle of the Mississippi River. They’re in the process of hiking from Osceola east to the state of Mississippi across the way — thanks to a rare occurrence: The mighty waterway had frozen over as far south as Helena.
The Mississippi County museum, as do many others, benefits from donations by local residents. Sometimes it takes awhile to decide whether the memorabilia is worth displaying, says Moore, pointing to a shopping cart filled to the brim with old high-school sports trophies.
She explains that the Mississippi County Historical Society, founded in 1988, has operated the historical center since the former store and two adjoining structures were donated five years later by Patterson’s daughter, Lonetta.
One of those buildings houses a coffee shop open for lunch on weekdays and offering old-style prices. A cup of coffee or tea costs just $1, while two versions of peanut butter and jelly sandwich go for $3. One is paired with a banana; the other is grilled. Also $3 is a hearty serving of Frito chili pie.
Available at the historical center is a brochure for a walking tour of Osceola, which styles itself “Jewel of the Cotton Highway” (a sobriquet for U.S. 61). The brochure notes that Osceola began as a steamboat landing called Plum Point before the present community of 7,000 grew along the Mississippi around the end of the 19th century.
Across from the museum stands a Mississippi County Courthouse, the most impressive property in Hale Avenue Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Serving the southern half of the county, the three-story edifice in Classical design opened in 1912. It has no windows on the first floor, likely because of worries back then about river flooding, so the entrance is on the second level.
Outside, the outstanding feature is the ornate copper dome, surrounded by terra-cotta decorations, while the front boasts stately Ionic pillars. The interior’s most striking feature is the thirdfloor courtroom, whose beams are carved with Roman olive leaves.
In its early decades, the courtroom also served as a center for community events. Some of the most fashionable, a magnet for the upper-crust lumber magnates and plantation owners of southern Mississippi County, were the society balls — in a setting befitting the Jewel of the Cotton Highway. Mississippi County Historical Center, 209 W. Hale Ave., Osceola, is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Admission is free, with donations invited. The center’s coffee shop is open 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday-Friday. For details, visit mississippicountymuseum.com or call (870) 563-6161.