Cushman’s manganese mining roots will be celebrated Saturday with the annual Cushman Miners Day.
Described as a perfect way to bring community together and honor the past, present, and future of the Independence County town, Cushman Miners Day events are free and hosted by the Cushman Community Events Committee.
The parade begins at 10:30 a.m., with the line-up starting at 9:45 at the Cushman Assembly of God. The Miners Day Show and Shine will begin at 11 p.m. (Scroll down for more information.)
Festivities at the Cushman Pavilion begin at 11 a.m. and will wrap up at 3 p.m. Food trucks; craft vendors; wet and dry bounce houses; alpacas and a llama from Blowing Oaks Ranch; a mechanical bull; a baggo tournament at 11 a.m.; and a street dance at 7 p.m. will all be part of the fun.
Events committee member Sydney Franks (pictured) recently visited White River Now to discuss Saturday’s events with Wes Gwaltney on Arkansas 103.3 KWOZ’s “Slightly Scrambled” morning program. Listen to their conversation below:
According to the Central Arkansas Library Sytstem’s Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “…William Einstein of St. Louis established a mining operation on what is now known as Polk Southard Mine, near what is now Sandtown Road, in about 1866. At the time, this was just a wild wooded area. In 1885, the Keystone Mining Company, an Andrew Carnegie company, began operations on Southard Hill. Shortly thereafter, the St. Louis Mining Company came to the area and began operations near Polk Southard. This marked the beginning of significant mining in the area.
The Batesville Manganese District is an east-west belt about two miles north of Batesville (Independence County). The belt is twenty-four miles long and four to eight miles wide, with Cushman near the geographic center and closest to the richest deposits. Originally, the mines were shafts and tunnels with some surface prospects, though in the 1950s, earthmoving equipment converted the operations to strip mining. Manganese has long been an important alloy agent in the manufacture of steel.”
Read more about Cushman from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas by clicking here.
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