El Dorado's thriving downtown, centered around the Neo-classic 1928 Union County Courthouse, contains architecturally significant churches and other impressive structures constructed in the 1920s and '30s and made possible by the new wealth of the oil boom. A diverse mix of shops, a variety of dining establishments and complementary landscaping and streetscape details have combined to make the area one of Arkansas's most attractive and popular downtowns. Nearby is the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources where the history of the state's "oil boom" is told through films, historic photographs, geological and other exhibits, oil-era memorabilia and an Oil Field Park, which displays derricks and pumping equipment.
