Parkin Archeological State Park

Parkin preserves a 17-acre Mississippian village occupied from about 1000 to 1550 CE on a terrace above the St. Francis River in northeast Arkansas. Arkansas State Parks describe it as a National Historic Landmark and a research station where archaeologists have worked for decades, and the site is widely associated with the Casqui province recorded in the de Soto expedition narratives: material evidence recovered at the park has led archaeologists to conclude that Hernando de Soto's expedition may have visited here in 1541, making Parkin one of the few Mississippian sites with a documented European contact episode. The museum and research station interpret both the village and the archaeology behind that conclusion, with care about what the evidence actually shows.

The site's layered history continues past 1550. The property later held the Northern Ohio Cooperage and Lumber Company, and the historic African American one-room Northern Ohio School still stands on the grounds. Park interpreters offer tours and programs year-round, and the park presents the village as ancestral to living Native nations of the region, including the Quapaw.

Visiting

Arkansas State Parks is the official operator. The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Sunday 1:00 to 5:00 pm; closed Mondays and Tuesdays except holiday Mondays. The grounds, picnic area, and playground are open daily 8:00 am to one hour after sunset. Admission to the self-guided village trail and museum exhibits is free. Call 870-755-2500 for guided program times.

Photo: Herb Roe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chromesun_photo_parkinsite01.jpg))