Cane Hill is a small, western Washington County community that was home to the first institution of higher learning in Arkansas. The township established a post office in 1830, six years before statehood. Cane Hill is smaller now, but there is still plenty to see.
Vanessa McKuin is the executive director of Historic Cane Hill, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the historically and culturally significant elements of the town. Vanessa and the rest of the Historic Cane Hill team will be on hand to act as hosts for the annual Cane Hill Harvest Fest Saturday. The festival includes a country breakfast, blacksmithing, music, sorghum making and a chance for people to get inside the buildings of Cane Hill.
The Cane Hill College Building, constructed in 1886, is the last standing college building for a legacy of higher learning— other buildings were casualties of the Civil War. The first school, Cane Hill School opened in 1834 and in 1858 became Cane Hill College.
“The original college buildings were built up on the hill, kind of behind where we're standing," McKuin said. "This was the building that was built after a slew of fires during the Civil War. Then after the war, this building was the last building that was built for the Cane Hill College in 1886, and it wasn't much longer before the college closed in 1891. So after this building closed as a college, it became a public school. The majority of its life was as a public school, and that's central to the story of Cane Hill and to this community. There are a lot of people still living who went to school here, whose parents went to school here, whose grandparents went to school here."
Eventually, the Cane Hill School District was consolidated into the Lincoln School District. The 1896 structure has been renovated and still serves as a polling place and upstairs an auditorium is used for community meetings. A view from the top floor allows Carley Squires, Historic Cane Hill’s Administrative Assistant and Festival Coordinator, a chance to offer a layout of Saturday’s event.
“So, right at this corner over here, where it's kind of flat, that used to be the basketball court, and it’s where we put the music stage," Squires said. "So, there will be live music, and we have Dom B. Roy and the Picking Boys and Brickfields are playing. Two kind of local regional bands, but then we also have three groups that are part of the Cane Hill Roots Music Program. So we are working with local students from Farmington, Prairie Grove, from right here in Cane hill learning traditional Ozark roots music.”
Outside Saturday, along with the music, blacksmithing and antique tractors, there will be other connections to Cane Hill in a different time.
“On the far side, you can see the sorghum shed and the corner there where Jared will be out there with the crew, supervising," she said. "And you can barely see where the press is, where the draft horse will be pressing the sorghum.”
Jared Biggs will be monitoring the sorghum making. His family has been in Cane Hill for generations, and he said sorghum is a pioneer staple. It’s a syrup made from sorghum cane that is a bit like molasses…but thinner and not as sweet. Jared said he learned the process of making sorghum from his uncle.
“They say you're not good at making sorghum until you're 70 years old," Biggs said. "So, me and my cousin have been trying to learn all our lives, but my uncle should be there supervising.”
Saturday, sorghum cane collected from Historic Cane Hill property will be pressed the old-fashioned way: draft horses will slowly pull a press, and the juice from the crushed stalks will flow through a tube, aided by gravity, into a cooker with a rock chimney.
“It's got to be pretty hot, especially towards the end here," Biggs said. "The finished product comes out over here.”
The process is old but not simple.
“You put water in at first," Biggs said. "Then you get the fire going to the right temperature so it doesn't burn the pan. You just keep a rag between the water and the juice at first and just run it all the way through at the same speed you would with sorghum juice. And then after all the water has run out, you pull the divider and let the sorghum molasses come out.”
Sorghum may be an acquired taste for mouths in the 21st century, and Jarred Biggs admits he’s not a big sorghum fan, but he said it has its attributes.
“The smell is something that always brings memories back for me.," Biggs said. "Every time they're cooking sorghum, the smell is really good. I like the smell better than the taste. When you're cooking it the juice is coming out, so there's a lot of different smells I guess, but it's one of the things that reminds me of the stuff.”
Saturday’s Cane Hill Harvest Fest is one of the biggest events for Historic Cane Hill, but not the only one. Carly Squires said there’s something happening year-round.
“We also are starting a new volunteer team to help out on the grounds," Squires said. "So, if anyone who likes hiking, you can not only hike the trails— you can help out with trail maintenance. Even some little things like just walking and picking up sticks as you go. It doesn't seem like a huge thing, but we have 150 acres, there's a lot of sticks that fall. So just having some extra hands helping out with things like that. We need to be able to grow that team, to grow more opportunities for people to get involved.”
Along with the grounds, the trails, the college building— there is also a restored Presbyterian Church with a working bell— and a museum, and more. Restoration and operations on this level are a big endeavor for such a small community. Vanessa McKuin, the executive director of Historic Cane Hill, said they’ve been lucky to have supporters who understand the value of Cane Hill’s place.
“We’ve been able to restore them through that generosity, but also realizing that we need to bring lots of people here," McKuin said. "That's part of Cane Hill's role to have events beyond the festival, to have programs and events that activate these spaces and use them. Having weddings here is very much part of the continuation of being the backdrop of life in Arkansas.”
The Cane Hill Harvest Fest is Saturday. The Ozark country breakfast is served from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and the festival is from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Walkup tickets will be available, and there is free parking.
