Thomas Rush Cornwell

5/7/1889 - Mount Nebo State Park

Part of the summer Normal School was built May 17, 1889, when the Arkansas Education Association selected Mt. Nebo as a place to train teachers in advanced levels of study. The building is shaped like a cross: four wings with a common center. The Summer Normal School included a 20-room dormitory, a restaurant, 2 cottages, a large study hall, and many other buildings. Miss Annie Kimbell was the first to purchase the house, and used it for a summer home for many years. It was then bought by Rush Cornwell in 1916, whose family also occupied it for several years. The central area served as an open living room; one wing housed the kitchen; the other three were bedrooms. The Cornwells also owned the Mt. Nebo Store and Post Office, located directly across the street from their home, and next door to the rock foundation that can still be seen. (The rock foundation housed what was once known as the beer parlor. However, no beer was sold there, just candy and drinks!) This combination store / post office was built around the turn of the century and operated by the Cornwell family for several years. It burned in 1954.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 6 2016, 0:30:55 UTC