RANDOLPH COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT) – A 91快播 project opened to the public in April for the first time in over a year and a half.
Project REACH听— Researching Early Arkansas Cultural Heritage — focuses on preserving history but like many things last year鈥� COVID-19 closed tours throughout 2020.
Project REACH first opened to the public 10 years ago, but its history goes all the way back to the 1800s, history that the families of the project carry to this day.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just ready for people to start coming back,鈥� Chris Lewis with BRTC said. 鈥淲e want people to know that we鈥檙e open.鈥�
Lewis has been with BRTC鈥檚 Project REACH project for three years; a project focused on researching the state鈥檚 early cultural heritage.
For Lewis, the Rice-Upshaw home has been in the family for seven generations. The REACH project has restored the home after the family donated the land to BRTC.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something for everyone here,鈥� Lewis said.
Everything from murder mysteries to Revolutionary War soldiers… from natural disasters to the COVID pandemic, the family has seen it all. And the site, still standing.
Chris鈥檚 cousin, Cindy Robinett, is also a part of the REACH project; the project has already restored and preserved two early log structures: The Rice-Upshaw house built in 1828 Looney-French House built just five years after that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just something that I鈥檝e grown up with,鈥� Robinett said. 鈥淚magine one family living on the same farm for over 200 years, and they鈥檙e still there today, the same farm, and these are my cousins.鈥�
After being closed for a year, they鈥檙e excited to continue telling the story.
鈥淓very year, you lose a little bit of history when you don鈥檛 have it open,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淭his is kind of the cutting edge of Arkansas. It is Arkansas before it existed.鈥�
Both sites, located off Highway 93, will be open on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and every second Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
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