Delta Gateway Museum reopens to the public

By REVIS BLAYLOCK

NEA Town Courier

Delta Gateway Museum, 210 West Main Street, Blytheville, is open to the public for regular hours after being closed for a few weeks.

The Delta Gateway farm exhibit.

Museum director Leslie Hester is glad to be back after a few weeks off following surgery.

The regular hours are Tuesday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

DGM is located in the historic Kress Building. The building, owned by the city of Blytheville, was listed on the National Register of historic places in 1997.

The museum is a heritage-based facility and is open and free to the public to visit. Unique exhibits include agriculture, historical stories of the area, a large collection of photographs of the area, dolls, schools, and much more. A replica of an early sharecroppers cabin was built by Hester and is a favorite for visitors.

Throughout the year the museum will feature traveling exhibits.The next hands-on exhibit will be for children and is sponsored by Head Start. The exhibit, Engineering Play Space for Kids, is scheduled to arrive on Sept 19. Hester is looking forward to opening the exhibit for field trips. It will be the first one since the pandemic.

DGM is a great place to visit and spend a little time browsing through history. DGM has a wonderful collection of historical and cultural items from Blytheville, Mississippi county, Northeast Arkansas, Southeast Missouri and the Arkansas Delta.

The museum opened in 2011.