Recently, Lyndon Green of Benton spent several hours recording the history of Dallas County as it appears in our museum through the marvel of 360-degree photography. He has shared with us many beautiful photos of our exhibit spaces, and we will release them over the coming weeks on the website. If you have never been to the museum before, you can see how much there is to offer in this 6,000 square foot space! This first image is what you see after entering the front door and signing our guestbook: yes, that’s a polar bear….the only one in Dallas County! He is the greeter for the wildlife exhibit in front of our office and gift shop area that has many local books for sale. You can see the World War I exhibit, “Let’s All Be Americans Now,” with Dallas County and surrounding areas represented in the faces of the young men who served their country during the “war to end all wars.” It is just outside the room housing our Korean and World War II exhibit. Of course, this picture only shows a tiny sample of what we have in our two-story main museum. We want to see you in person, so make plans to visit soon!
(Using your mouse, click on the left button while moving the mouse to navigate around the room. Double-clicking on the left button allows you to zoom in and zoom back out again.)
*Added 8.8.18 in answer to Raymond Phillips’s question: The story of the polar bear is fascinating! Mr. Phillip’s mother, Agnes Phillips, is the museum director and weekly column writer for the Fordyce News-Advocate. In “Notes from the Dallas County Museum” from June 28, 2017, she wrote: “I was searching for some info about Gene Barrow’s wildlife trophies. His mighty polar bear is the first thing you see when you enter the DCM. The bear is huge and probably weighed 1,200 pounds, the mount is beautiful and Barrow’s story is a thriller. The way I heard it is that Barrow flew into Siberia under the Russian radar, shot the bear from his helicopter, field dressed the bear, tied it under the helicopter and flew back out to Alaska. And he didn’t get caught. Maybe the rest was easy, but I don’t think so. The bear was left in the hands of a very skilled taxidermist and then shipped back to Fordyce, Arkansas.”
FOR THOSE OF US WHO GREW UP IN FORDYCE, THIS WAS OUR FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING..NOW A MUSEUM WE FREQUENT ANNUALLY, COTTON BELT FESTIVAL. WE LOVE IT AND THE MEMORIES STORED THERE. A FRIENDLY BANKER AND STAFF GREETED US THEN AND NOW MUSEUM CREW.
Thank you for your comment! Please plan to visit us soon!
Do you know the full story about this polar bear?
I am glad you asked! I have heard it over the years but did not remember enough to answer your question. Looking back through your mother’s past “Notes from the Dallas County Museum” columns, I was able to find the answer and updated the post to include that information.