Organization Type: Arts Education & Support, Community & Cultural, Literary & Language Arts, Media, Film & Digital Arts
Mission: Rogers Historical Museum’s mission is to enrich lives through education, experience, and exploration of heritage. They work to collect and preserve artifacts, archival and research materials that document the history and cultural heritage of Rogers, Benton County, and Northwest Arkansas; to offer exhibitions, programs, publications, and web-resources that foster appreciation of regional heritage; to provide family-friendly exhibitions and activities for all ages so people can engage the past, imagine the future, and enjoy learning; and to offer loan exhibitions and related programs that broaden the cultural perspectives of area residents.
Rogers Historical Museum
Location: Rogers
Organization Type: Arts Education & Support, Community & Cultural, Literary & Language Arts, Media, Film & Digital Arts
Events
Please visit this organization's website or social links below for upcoming events. You can also check out CACHE's Arts + Culture Calendar, featuring hundreds of creative events every month in Northwest Arkansas. Zero FOMO.
Mission
Rogers Historical Museum’s mission is to enrich lives through education, experience, and exploration of heritage. They work to collect and preserve artifacts, archival and research materials that document the history and cultural heritage of Rogers, Benton County, and Northwest Arkansas; to offer exhibitions, programs, publications, and web-resources that foster appreciation of regional heritage; to provide family-friendly exhibitions and activities for all ages so people can engage the past, imagine the future, and enjoy learning; and to offer loan exhibitions and related programs that broaden the cultural perspectives of area residents.
About
Rogers Historical Museum was established in 1975 as a department of the City of Rogers. Its creation was proposed in 1974 by a city council member as the city’s American Bicentennial heritage project to preserve and protect local history at a time of rapid growth and change.
The museum first opened to the public on October 25, 1975 in a former 1905 bank building.
Since then the museum has moved and expanded several times. In 1982 it moved to the historic 1895 Hawkins House (donated in part by a local family), and in 1987 a 5,600-square-foot addition (the Key Wing) was added.
Over the decades the museum’s collection has grown to include tens of thousands of objects documenting local and regional history — from early settlement through modern times.
In 2018 the museum expanded again by renovating the historic Newt Hailey Ford Dealership building to serve as new exhibit galleries and offices, repurposing the Key Wing as an education center, and using the former Masonic Lodge building for collections storage. An apple orchard was planted on the museum property behind the Key Wing, and the expanded museum reopened on December 13, 2018.
In 2025 the museum celebrates its 50-year anniversary and recently received re-accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), which is a significant national recognition of the museum’s commitment to excellence in governance, collections care, and public service.
Today the museum is run by a five-member commission appointed by the city, supported by nonprofit partners (the Rogers Historical Museum Foundation and the Friends of the Rogers Historical Museum), staffed by a small paid staff, and assisted by volunteers.
The museum campus includes multiple buildings for exhibits, education, collections, and a historic house; it offers permanent and rotating exhibits, hands-on spaces (including areas for children), educational outreach, family-oriented programming, and community events.
Website, Video & Social Links
Website:
https://www.rogershistoricalmuseum.org/
Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/user/RogersMuseum
Social Links:
https://www.facebook.com/RogersHistoricalMuseum
https://www.instagram.com/rogershistoricalmuseum/
https://www.linkedin.com/today/posts/rogershistoricalmuseum