History In The Making

There's a lot to know about Headquarters House, the home of the Washington County Historical Society.

Built in 1853 by Judge Jonas Tebbetts and his wife, Matilda Winlock Tebbetts, the house is considered one of the best examples of Greek Revival architecture still standing in Arkansas. It was headquarters to both the Union and the Confederate armies during their occupations of Fayetteville -- thus the name -- and sustained serious damage during the Battle of Fayetteville on April 18, 1863. It's now home to the historical society's annual Heritage School, a summer program to teach youngsters traditions and manners, and for 45 years, the doors have been open to the public one Saturday in August for an Ice Cream Social.

The doors are also open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but the house is not ordinarily staffed with living history actors, and Tess Kidd is the only paid employee on site. Volunteers wanted a better way to share information, and one of them, Mimi Mathis, came up with an idea: A touchscreen computer that will provide details as they are needed. Volunteer Judy Costello obtained a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council, and the new device will be debuted at this Saturday's Ice Cream Social.

Right now, Costello explains, the kiosk offers information for only one room of the house, the study, but a grander plan would include more devices for the other rooms, complete with videos of living history actors and a tour hosted by Kidd.

"We put this out for evaluation at the Battle of Fayetteville and for Heritage School students, which is down to 7 years old, and they liked it and understood and wanted more information," Costello says. "So now we write another grant!"

The Ice Cream Social, a fundraiser for the Washington County Historical Society, will also include its traditional homemade cakes and Hiland Dairy ice cream, music and dancing by the Heritage School students.

-- Becca Martin-Brown

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NAN What's Up on 08/19/2016