DNR
Home PageVisitor Center
Exhibit Information | Visitor Center Hours
The visitor center was opened in 1991. It is a block-and-a-half south of Main Street, nestled in a wooded hollow so as not to dominate the historic landscape of the town. The parking lot entry road is located on Highway 41, one-quarter mile south of Arrow Rock. Site offices are located in the visitor center.
Arrow Rock State Historic Site is located in the heart of central Missouri's "Boone's Lick Country" and preserves and interprets this unique chapter of our American heritage. The center contains nearly 9,000 square feet of exhibit space and an extensive collection of artifacts. Exhibits are chronologically arranged to present the following themes:
- Native American Presence -- focusing on the Osage and Missouri tribes from prehistory to 1790
- France and Spain in the Missouri Valley -- 1673 to 1802
- Waterway West -- the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1803 to 1806
- Pioneer Industry, Making Salt at Boone's Lick -- focusing on the salt works started in 1805 by Nathan and Daniel M. Boone, sons of the famed pioneer Daniel Boone
- War of 1812, Settlement and Conflict in the Boone's Lick -- the clash between white settlers and the Sauk, Fox and Ioway tribes from 1808 to 1815
- Settling the Boone's Lick, Town Building on the Missouri Frontier -- and speculation, town founding and the massive migration from the upper South to the area between 1815 and 1830
- Boone's Lick Agriculture -- agricultural techniques and innovations and the use of slaves on hemp and tobacco plantations, circa 1816 to 1861
- Manufacturing, Handicraft Industries and Agricultural Processors -- the growth of the Boone's Lick as Missouri's second leading manufacturing center circa 1830-1861
- Rivers and Roads, Moving Passengers and Produce in the Boone's Lick -- Missouri River commerce from canoes and flatboats to steamboats and forms of overland transportation
- Westward the Star of Empire, the Boone's Lick and the Santa Fe Trade -- the beginning of trade with Mexico through the war with Mexico, 1821 to 1848
- Life in the Boone's Lick -- focusing on domestic life and civil progress and the medical innovations of Dr. John Sappington, from 1821 to 1861
- George Caleb Bingham -- the life and artwork of Missouri's most famous artist and Arrow Rock's most famous resident. Several original portraits and prints are featured
- Troubled Times, the Civil War -- 1861 to 1865
- End of an Era, the Boone's Lick in Decline -- the loss of population and prestige due to war and technological changes from 1865 to 1900
- A Hazy Realm Between Bondage and Freedom, Emancipation to Civil Rights -- the black experience in the Boone's Lick from 1865 to 1955 (exhibit under development)
- Arrow Rock, Preserving a Monument to the Golden Age of the Boone's Lick -- covers early efforts to preserve and interpret the town beginning in 1912 and through to the present
Visitors can watch a 20-minute video "Arrow Rock: Frontier Town of the Boone's Lick." This video provides an introduction and general overview of the history of Arrow Rock and the Boone's Lick Country. Copies are available for sale.
The visitor center gift shop carries a line of postcards, history books, prints of George Caleb Bingham's artwork and state park related souvenirs and clothing items.
Winter Hours (Off-Season)From September through November, the visitor center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. From December through February, the visitor center is open Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The center is also open holiday Mondays. The center is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's day.
Summer Hours (On-Season)From March through May, the visitor center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
From June through August, the visitor center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
