Rogers Historical Museum offers a journey through the history and traditions of Rogers and the surrounding area of Northwest Arkansas. Its permanent and changing exhibits, carefully tailored educational programs, and special events, provide a rare glimpse into the historical events and subtle connections that link the city’s past and present. The museum is the fruit of local citizens who were concerned about a possible loss of their heritage in the welter of modern change. To address their persistent concerns, the Rogers City Council formed the Museum Commission in 1974, to oversee the museum's creation. Their efforts turned to reality a year later when the Rogers Historic Museum was inaugurated in part of a 1905 downtown Rogers bank building. In 1982, the museum was moved into an 1895, five-room brick edifice known as the Hawkins House. That year, the museum hired its first director. But most collections were still resting in a local warehouse, and it was another five years before they could be brought in to the building for display. In 1988, a 5,600 square-foot expansion to the Hawkins House — the Key Wing — solved the longstanding space limitation that had prevented the museum from displaying all of its major artifacts. The new addition provided for collections storage, a workroom, offices, and two exhibit galleries. The enhanced gallery was honored in 1989 as “Museum of the Year” by the Arkansas Museums Association. The Rogers Historical Museum continued to scale new heights; a string of awards and accords that followed testifies to its popularity and the important place it holds among the heritage museums in the state. In 1999, the museum was accredited by the American Association of Museums. Permanent features of the museum include the Hawkins House, First Street, the Attic, major exhibits, mini exhibits, traveling exhibits, and the Caboose.