COMMUNITY
Text courtesy of Historic Cane Hill | Photos by Chieko Hara
Historic Cane Hill’s Apple Blossom Society Social Supports Historic Preservation
Historic Cane Hill welcomed approximately 90 guests May 30 to its third annual Apple Blossom Society Social, a brunch celebrating the society’s members while raising funds to preserve and restore the community’s rich history and historic buildings.
Guests enjoyed guided tours of several of Cane Hill’s most significant historic properties, including the 1891 Presbyterian Church, the 1886 Cane Hill College building, the c. 1890 Kirby-Colburn Home and the late-19th-century Colburn Barn. These tours offered attendees a unique opportunity to experience firsthand the architecture, stories and heritage that make Cane Hill a treasured destination in Northwest Arkansas.
The historic Colburn Barn was a featured stop of the tour, offering participants the opportunity to see and experience completion of the major restoration. The unusual stone and timber frame structure takes its name from the Colburn family, who owned the surrounding property for more than a century. Historic Cane Hill acquired the barn in 2023.
The barn is a physical reminder of the agricultural history of the region. Records show the surrounding property was utilized for commercial apple production beginning in the 1840s through the late 19th century. A description from the 1889 History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas, describes the “apple orchard of ninety acres with 3,600 trees, of the Ben Davis variety, the yield from [the Russell] orchard amounting to 25,000 bushels of apples.” Remnants of an apple dryer still stand on an adjacent property.
In May and June 2025, Historic Cane Hill hosted an educational workshop with the national Timber Framers Guild and the New Hampshire-based Heartwood School. Representatives from seven states traveled to learn how to repair and fabricate timber frame structures. Restoration of the timber frame, stone foundation, board and batten siding, and cedar shingle roof was completed by a team of specialty contractors from Arkansas.
Historic Cane Hill plans to share the barn with the community through educational events and community celebrations.
Funds raised through the Apple Blossom Society support ongoing preservation efforts, educational programming and the stewardship of the organization’s historic buildings, such as the Colburn Barn, and landscapes.
“Historic Cane Hill extends its sincere appreciation to all who attended and contributed to the success of the event and to members of the Apple Blossom Society,” said Executive Director Vanessa McKuin. “Their generosity helps ensure that Cane Hill’s history continues to inspire and educate future generations.”
