Clothesline Fair Trivia

Trivia provided by Shiloh Museum of Ozark History

The name “Clothesline Fair” originated from when artisans displayed their creations on clotheslines between trees

The Clothesline Fair was founded in 1951 by the Council of Ozark Artists and Craftsmen, who promoted the preservation and marketing of native Ozark arts and crafts.

The first few Clothesline Fairs took place in several locations in Northwest Arkansas, including U.S. 71 near Springdale at Tuttle's Shady Curb Market, before getting its permanent home in Prairie Grove in 1957.

The Prairie Grove site was chosen for the fair to coincide with a battlefield museum and historical wall dedication program at Prairie Grove Battle Field Park (it became a state park in 1971).

Prairie Grove Battlefield Park had only one hydrant at the first Prairie Grove Clothesline Fair. People had to haul water to the park and some sold baked cakes and iced tea.

In 2017, the Peggy Parks Memorial Square Dance was named in memory of the fourth-grade Prairie Grove school teacher who taught her students to square dance. The dancers performed
at the Clothesline Fair for the first time
in 1958.

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