War Eagle Fair -- the Ozarks' premier arts and crafts fair -- is now over a half century old. Founded in 1954 by Blanche Elliott and a small group of her fellow hand-loom weavers, the War Eagle Fair was established to preserve and perpetuate traditional skills developed by Ozark mountaineers and craftspeople.

  The original War Eagle Fair drew a couple of thousand people to the pre-Civil War riverside homestead of Sylvanus Blackburn. This year, Oct. 18 through 21, more than 300 artists and crafters will gather on the scenic valley floor of the War Eagle Mills Farm. They will be followed by close to a quarter million lovers of traditional arts and crafts who will generate over $1 million in sales.

War Eagle Weekend

  The first War Eagle Fair tapped into an enormous appreciation for traditional arts and crafts. Other fairs followed and have come together over the decades to create the phenomenal War Eagle Weekend.

  The third weekend in October, the Northwest Arkansas autumn landscape will be blanketed with circus-style tents and booths, showcasing virtually every arts and craft media imaginable.

  For decades, three War Eagle fairs have operated separately but adjacent to one another on the War Eagle Mill Farm. This year will prove to be the biggest as the 54th annual War Eagle Arts and Crafts Fair, the 35th annual War Eagle Mill Arts and Crafts Fair and the 35th annual Sharp Shows of War Eagle bring together artisans from across the country. Since commercial enterprises are not allowed, visitors have the opportunity to buy original pieces of art or handicraft directly from the creators of the works.

The Mill

  The War Eagle Mill is powered by one of the last remaining undershot waterwheels in the country and is the only working grist mill in Arkansas.

  Powered by the War Eagle River, the mill is the fourth to be built on the site and is an authentic cypress reproduction of the 1873 mill.

  The first mill was built in the 1830s by Sylvanus Blackburn. Flood waters took it away in 1848. Blackburn rebuilt it, but two days before the battle of Pea Ridge, Confederate troops burnt it to prevent its falling into Union hands.

  The third mill was built by Blackburn's son James in 1873. It was this mill that drove the saw that milled timber for much of Fayetteville, including the lumber used to build the historic Old Main building on the University of Arkansas campus.

  War Eagle is located 13 miles east of Rogers, Arkansas off Hwy. 12. Fair gates open at 8 a.m. each day and close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at 4 p.m. on Sunday. For more information contact Shirley Sutton at (479) 789-5398 or visit www.wareaglemill.com.