What We Do

Rambling the Ozarks: Twin Groves to Gilbert

Saturday, November 8, 2025

Download the 2025 Ramble Digital Program

Preserve Arkansas Rambles are bus trips that explore Arkansas’s heritage sites for an exceptional experience filled with history and fun. Join us on Saturday, November 8 for the 2025 Preservation Ramble, “Rambling the Ozarks: Twin Groves to Gilbert.” This year’s trip will travel U.S. Highway 65, highlighting the unique communities along its winding route from the foothills of the Ozarks to the Buffalo National River.

Stops include:

• Twin Groves, a town in the Ozark Foothills encompassing the historically African American communities of Solomon Grove and Zion Grove. These communities were settled by Free Blacks after the Civil War. Solomon Grove was home to well-known stone mason Silas Owens, Sr., whose distinctive “Mixed Masonry” buildings are familiar landmarks in Faulkner and Van Buren counties.
• Marshall, the Searcy County seat, where Ramblers will visit the Buffalo River Historic Jail and Museum to learn about the region’s history while exploring the rehabilitated 1902 Searcy County Jail, as well as the 1966 Kenda Drive-In, one of the last operating drive-in movie theaters in Arkansas.
• And Gilbert, a small town on the Buffalo River established in the early 20^th century as the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad extended to the south. In fact, Gilbert was named for railroad president Charles W. Gilbert. Early commerce revolved around the timber industry and the rail line. Around 1920, the population increased as members of the Incoming Kingdom Missionary Unit, a religious group led by Rev. John Adams Battenfield, settled at Gilbert. The town’s historic church, school, and printing plant were constructed during this period of growth. Ramblers will visit these properties, along with the historic Mays General Store, now Gilbert General Store, and the Buffalo National River, itself.