Historic Dyess Colony

Located in the former Dyess Colony Administration Building, this Arkansas State University Heritage Site focuses on the 1934 establishment of the nation’s largest agricultural resettlement project.  As part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the colony provided a fresh start for nearly 500 impoverished Arkansas farm families, including the family of music legend Johnny Cash.  Exhibits in the restored building include the history of the colony, lifestyles of typical colonists, and the impact that growing up in Dyess had on Johnny Cash and his music.  The experience also includes a visit to the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home, restored and furnished as it appeared when the Cash family lived there.