old state house museum

I only went because I had a little extra time. I spent almost two hours, as it was more interesting than I anticipated. They had some real nice exhibits - a history of bicycles, history of the governors, and some famous men and happenings around the Civil War. It is a free, self guided attraction.

Just walking through a building originally built in the 1830s is cool, especially when it's free. The section on Arkansas film history was a strange surprise, but very entertaining. Seeing the artifacts from the past governors, including Hillary's gowns, was nice. I'm not from Arkansas, but I was very entertained for a good almost 2 hours.

Lots of stuff to see for free. Learn the history of the state house with a lot of photographs and some historic facts about Arkansas and Little Rock. It also has a few rooms recreated exactly how they were a few years back. If you are lucky enough, you will get to see a cool exhibit, one of the many the Old State House has around the year.

My first time here and it was a great experience. Free admission and lots of stuff to see. The Arkansas/ Hollywood connection area on display was worth the visit. Love learning about the history of our great state.

When we arrived at the Old State House, a staff member asked us if we wanted to take a tour. We said no - big mistake! We started walking and reading on our own and then joined a tour that had begun a few minutes after our arrival. The tour leader was excellent and gave us an overview of the history of the building and its significance to the state. The exhibit on Arkansas celebrities was fairly fun because anyone who had ever spent five minutes in the state was counted as one of their own. We had never heard of some of the "celebrities".

This is a really interesting museum that you find out lots of new information about the history of Arkansas. We especially enjoyed the exhibit about all the movies that had been filmed there.

I wish there was more devoted to the histories of Arkansas and of the building as it served as the state house but a lot of that was covered--just not extensive enough for my taste. The really interesting part was the restoration. There was a display devoted to governors of Arkansas and another to local Ark politicians and the original House & Senate chambers were set up in "period style". Two temporary exhibits were on bicycling (which made no sense) and "Cinema in Arkansas" which was actually fascinating as I had no idea that many of the people mentioned in the exhibit were/are from Arkansas.The docent was extremely friendly, very affable, & well-informed as well as being interested in sharing and the setting was lovely. There is no charge (except parking on the street) and it is well worth a stop to learn about the history of Arkansas politics, the old state house and its architecture/place in Ark history, or Arkansas cinema.

Just big enough to enjoy seeing the permanent and temporary exhibits. Lovingly restored and easy to navigate. Really enjoyed the temporary exhibit of Hollywood in Arkansas, and loved the First Ladies gowns exhibit. Free, too!

Lots of history regarding what net on in this building - more than I personally was interested in. Other exhibits were OK, but not sure why they are there - bicycles, Hollywood stars from Arknasa?

The guide we had was very knowledgeable and talked us through it's history. Worth a visit.However don't go too late in the day because whilst the museum team will continue to give information the security want to lock up promptly so they can go home at 5:00!

We were a little discouraged that the River Market had so little to offer. We stopped here and enjoyed it. It's free, and there was interesting information about the building and Arkansas. We spent a couple of hours and thought that it was well worth it. We would have stayed a little longer if we had the time.

The building is marvelously restored. Most interesting is the story of the century-long struggle of the Arkansas Womens' Clubs to save, rehab, and decorate the building.

The grounds and building are absolutely beautiful! There are some neat exhibits as well. It's a great place to take out of towners to help them beat the summer heat and learn fun facts about Arkansas. Be sure to check out the first ladies' dresses exhibit!

This building was the original capitol building. When the new one was built this one was left to fall down. It came close but the state got wise and restored it in the 50s. But it needed more so they did a complete restoration (including the foundation) about 15 or so years ago. Results are a building and grounds that are a pleasure to visit. The fountain is almost exactly like the original. Canon has history. Skylight inside has history. Take time and just read everything. A short video tells of the restoration. It's shown in two areas. Also of note currently is the exhibit on movies made in Arkansas and the actors who are from Arkansas. That was interesting and well-done. Two levels with elevator. Parking is at meters and costs 50 cents per hour. The front yard is very beautiful. Take a tripod and get some photos of you! It's on the river too which has a nice walkway.

This is a really nice museum and was a great way to spend a hot afternoon. Good exhibits and I particularly enjoyed the films. Free admission too!