WASHINGTON, Ark.-Forty years after becoming a repository for area historical research, the Southwest Arkansas Regional Achives Center continues to flourish.
Founded in 1978 as a project of the Hempstead County Historical Society, the research organization currently resides in a 1976 public elementary school building which it acquired in the mid-1990s, said Melissa Nesbitt, SARA archival manager.
SARA's founding also received assistance from what was formerly know as the Arkansas History Commission as well as the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation and Historic Washington State Park. SARA's research center, is in fact, a resident on the park's grounds.
The building is located on Arkansas State Highway 195 just a short distance west of the park's historic 1874 courthouse.
To this day, this archival research center continues to receive streams of historic letters, journals, maps, family history scrapbooks, vintage photos, pamphlets, diaries, periodicals and newspaper files.
Many of SARA's other historical documents include manuscript collections, sheet music, court records, population census records, post office records, Civil War documents, library book collections and other printed resources.
The vast majority of SARA's researchable collections come to Hempstead County from the surrounding 11-county region. These counties include Columbia, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, Ouachita, Pike, Polk, Sevier and Union counties. All of these counties at one time were, in fact, part of Hempstead County-one of Arkansas' five maiden counties dating back to 1819.
"A lot of our donated historical research material has come from these 11 other counties and we still accept donations," Nesbitt said. "We are available to give presentations to civic organizations, church groups and especially school groups, mainly because we would love for more school groups to participate in what we have. There is a lot of general historical research students can do here. It's not all just about family history and genealogy."
The SARA building has a grand total of 3,941 square feet, of which at least 1,800 square feet is used for housing document collections and providing a research room similar to a library.
For at least the last few years, the SARA building has been visited by no less that 600 to 700 patrons a year-both history researchers and people just dropping by.
"Since 1978, we have had people visit from just about every state in the union and even from some foreign countries," Nesbitt said. "We are now a branch of Arkansas State Archives," (formerly the Arkansas History Commission.)
Nesbitt said one of the most important reasons for the archival collections is the fact that Southwest Arkansas has rich historical connection to other parts of the country as well as to the country in general. Southwest Arkansas' role in history includes 1830s' Trail of Tears, Stephen F. Austin, James Bowie and other figures closely connected to Texas's 1836 bid for independence from Mexico, the Mexican-American War (1844-1846) and of course, the Civil War.
"The most amazing thing that strikes me about southwest Arkansas is the fact that our area still seems to be one of the most under-researched areas of the country-and that is why SARA is here," she said.
SARA is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 870-983-2633.