Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources collects, preserves and exhibits examples of Arkansas's changing oil technology and brine industry, and focuses on the 1920s oil boom in south Arkansas. Working outdoor exhibits include an oil well, pumping rig and three derricks. Temporary and traveling exhibits are displayed inside the museum. Two video presentations depict the discovery of oil and brine in Arkansas. Admission is free.
The museum's exhibits include:
- · The Earth Globe—Journey through the center of the earth and see where oil and bromine is located throughout the world.
- The Core Shaft—Explore a simulated core shaft and see samples of actual formations found in south Arkansas.
- Undersea Diorama—Take a trip 200 million years back in time to the Jurassic Period. Ride through the ocean and hear how oil is formed on the ocean's floor.
- Industrial Revolution—Watch as oil sets the nation’s industrial wheels in motion during the 19th century, and step onto an oil-soaked rig floor as a gusher is being brought under control.
- Boom Town Street—Stroll through Smackover's muddy boom town street and visit the restaurant, jail, supply store and movie theater.
- The Circus Truck—Watch the conservation of the 1920s vintage Model-T motor home where Rhene Miller Meyer, the famous "Goat Woman," lived and performed.
- The Woodland Walk—Trek the paved trail through the Oil Field Park and explore full-sized, operating examples of derricks and equipment used from the 1920s to the modern era.
The museum is on Ark. 7 one mile south of Smackover.
