Buffalo National River - Parker-Hickman Farmstead

The next morning I woke up before sunrise again and headed back to the Buffalo River. This time it was to visit the old Parker-Hickman Farmstead at Erbie. It was still raining as I drove north from Jasper, but the rain slacked by the time I made it to the old homestead.



The cabin was built by the Parker family in the 1840s, and is the oldest building within the boundaries of the Buffalo National River. It was built just a few years after Arkansas became a state, and the old place has seen a lot of history. During the Civil War, there was a small skirmish nearby involving guerrilla fighters and the old Parker house was used as a field hospital.



The cabin and the property were then purchased by the Hickman family, who lived there until 1978. In 1982, the National Park Service acquired the cabin and the surrounding farm. You can take a peek inside the cabin, which is in remarkably good shape considering how old the structure is. In one room, you can see the layers of wallpaper and newspaper on the walls that was used as insulation back in the olden days.





The farmstead also contains several other historic buildings, including several barns. This one was built in the 1912:



Which sits next to a smaller barn, which was built in the 1920s:





And also there are these two old buildings - they were used as a machine shop and a chicken coop. They were both built in the 1950s.



From here a road heads off through the trees, leading to a small cemetery.



And behind the old cabin is a small outhouse, which was built in the 1930s. The outhouse, or privy, was built as part of a Works Progress Administration program during the Great Depression. Rural farmers across the US could apply for a WPA privy, with the intention that it would help cut down on diseases like cholera or typhoid that was caused by contaminated water supplies or from flies. Between 1933 and 1945, over 2.3 million privies like this one were built across the country. The Hickman family were later reported as saying that the outhouse was the only federal assistance they received during the Depression.



It's incredible to me that this house has managed to survive, and is still standing after all these years. It is really hard to imagine the people who lived here, building a house deep in a forest in the middle of the frontier back in the days before electricity. Could they have ever imagined that their old house would still be here after almost two centuries? Or that tourists in the future would travel there and take a picture of their outhouse?

Fall In The Ozarks - Part 1

A few weeks back I made a trip to the Ozarks with my nephew J.T. He wanted to get some senior portraits done, and being the smart kid that he is, decided to have them taken in one of the most photogenic places in the state. So we drove up into the mountains, stopping at a few favorite spots. The first was Haw Creek Falls, which was just a sad trickle since we've barely had any rain for awhile. But we managed to get a few portraits done along the creek, and headed over to the old Fort Douglas school. The school was built in 1946 and sits along the Ozark Highlands Trail.



Just down the road is the old Hwy. 123 bridge over Big Piney Creek. The narrow one-lane bridge was built in 1931.



From there we followed a nice little dirt road that runs alongside the Big Piney. It was sunny, so I tried a few shots with the infrared camera:





We got back on the paved roads but soon made a quick stop by this field, which had some fall colors and interesting clouds.





From there we followed Hwy. 123, which might just be one of the curviest roads in the state. The curves and switchbacks are the most notable around Sam's Throne, a great overlook deep in the Ozark National Forest. It is a great spot, and was unusually crowded that day. I know it was a Saturday and people were out to look at fall colors, but I had never before seen that many people there.







One of the reasons that it was crowded was because a couple decided to get married right there at the overlook. It is a beautiful spot, and definitely provided a wonderful backdrop to their nuptials. The only downside was that it was incredibly windy that day. The gusts were so strong that it seemed like they could easily push someone over the edge of the bluff. Luckily neither the bridge or groom were blown away during their wedding. This shot was taken while all the other hikers and rock climbers politely stood off to the side, so as to not disturb the wedding.



Sam's Throne was actually named after someone named Sam Davis. According to legend, back in the 1820s Sam claimed that his sister had been kidnapped. In his anger, he would climb out onto this rocky outcrop and give fiery sermons to all his neighbors within earshot. Legend also states that Sam also buried some gold on Sam's Throne, although nothing has ever been found in the years since (that we know of).



We got back in the car and headed towards the Buffalo River. Along the way I stopped to get pictures of this old and rusty structure. I'm guessing it was once a chicken house?



We drove through Jasper and then headed towards Erbie. Along the way we stopped again to get a picture of a neat old barn.



In contrast to the crowds at Sam's Throne, there weren't very many people at Erbie. Just a handful of people were at the campground, which sits above the Buffalo River.



Erbie is home to the Parker-Hickman Farmstead, a collection of old buildings that has been preserved by the National Park Service. The old house here is actually the oldest structure still standing within the boundaries of the Buffalo National River. It was built sometime between 1847 and 1849. The lean-to on the side was added in the 1920s and served as a country store. The home was occupied until 1978.





From there we crossed the Buffalo River at the Erbie low-water bridge, and then headed to our campsite. After getting tents and hammocks set up, we headed back to the Buffalo River for a few more pictures. We went to the Steele Creek put-in, and then started the hike to an overlook atop Roark Bluff. I've done this hike a few times before, and it is somewhat short but steep in places. But this was the first big hike I've taken since I caught Covid a few months ago. I haven't completely recovered, and still have some long-Covid symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pains. It was rough, I'm sad to admit. I had to make many stops to rest as we headed uphill (my nephew, bless him, was kind and patient as I had to stop and constantly catch my breath).

It didn't help that we ended up missing the overlook and hiked way up the hillside. We had to backtrack and finally made it to the overlook just after sunset. There was just barely enough light to get a few pictures. I managed to get a few portraits of J.T. (which thankfully turned out and were in focus!) and then got a few pictures of the view before we lost all the light. After this, we hiked back to the car in the dark (luckily we did have flashlights with us). 

Erbie

From Broadwater Hollow, we decided to take the scenic route and follow a dirt road that cut through the woods towards the Buffalo River. We ended up at Erbie, which was once a small community that sat along both sides of the Buffalo. Not much remains of Erbie now - the historic Parker-Hickman farmstead is on the south side of the river. And on the north side there still stands an old church, house and barn. The church is thought to have been built in 1896, and services were actually held here all the way until the year 2000.



Erbie has a long history. The oldest known settlement along the Buffalo was at the Parker-Hickman farmstead in 1830. The community of Erbie would have a population of about 100 people in 1930. At that time, the town was comprised of about a dozen buildings (which included the church, a post office and a store). One of the buildings that does remain here is this old house, which was built in 1922.



Near the house is this old barn, which was built in 1913.







Our original plan was to cross the Buffalo River on the low-water bridge at Erbie, but the river was too high to cross (I'm no expert, but I assume that when the water is so high that there are actual waves going over the bridge that it isn't safe to cross). So instead we followed the road as it headed roughly up the hills to the east. Along the way, we passed by another old barn and got a few pictures before heading off to Jasper to pick up dinner from the Ozark Cafe....

Parker-Hickman Homestead

There are lots of historical places within the boundaries of the Buffalo National River, and one of the largest and well-preserved is the old Parker-Hickman Homestead. The homestead is situated at the foot of a ridge, not too far from the waters of the Buffalo River. The oldest building here dates back to the late 1840s, and is believed to be the oldest building in the park. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like when the first settlers cleared the land and built the log cabin by hand. 

 

Amazingly, the home was occupied until 1978. In 1982 the National Park Service purchased the property and stabilized and preserved the home and the other buildings in the homestead. While the home is empty now, the door is unlocked and you are invited to go inside to take a look (just please don't leave graffiti or mess anything up!). Although the home hasn't been occupied in over 40 years, you can still see hints of the home's past. In one room, there are layers of newspaper stuck to the wall. In the olden times, people used newspaper as a sort of insulation.



At the back of the house is an addition, which was completed in the early 1900s. The house has seen a lot of history, even during the Civil War. Near the end of the war after US troops liberated Little Rock and the fledgling Confederate government had to flee, most of the mountainous areas of the state was left uncontrolled by either army. In the power vacuum that followed, guerrilla fighters roamed the countryside. A skirmish among dueling guerrilla fighters occurred near the Parker-Hickman Homestead, and the home was used a field hospital.



The house also has a nice front porch, from which you can see the other buildings in the farmstead. Along with the house, there are several barns, sheds, a granary, a smokehouse and even a little outhouse (which dates back to the 1920s, but I didn't investigate to see how it was). This is the view of the porch, with one of the barns reflected in the window.



The largest barn in the homestead dates back to 1912.



And one final shot of the barn, framed under these towering trees showing off a bit of fall color.