Ever heard of bauxite? Apparently it’s the main source of aluminum. And there’s actually a town in Arkansas named after it, which is appropriate considering that’s also the state where you can find the Gann Museum. Built in 1896 as the medical offices for Dr. Dewell Gann Sr., it is the only known structure in the world to use bauxite aluminum ore as its building material. According to the historical marker out front, “the building was constructed by patients who could not afford to pay for services he rendered them. The soft stone was dug from a farm near by, sawn into blocks with a handsaw and allowed to harden for six weeks.” The three-room structure had separate entrances and waiting rooms for the ladies and men. Why, you ask? It was to assure female patients that they could avoid exposure to any rough dudes like railroad or industrial workers. Anyway, the building was used as a medical office until 1946, then became a library, and in 1980 was turned into a FREE museum. Today it houses memorabilia, photographs, and artifacts from Arkansas’s past. Visitors can see Dr. Gann’s old desk and medical correspondence, a vast Niloak pottery collection, old wood carvings, Quapaw and Caddo Indian crafts, and weird stuff like a mid-19th century tombstone marker in the shape of a butter churn.
Gann Museum, Arkansas
