Friends of Hobbs Speaker Series: The Uplifting Story of a Former Slave, Aaron "Rock" Van Winkle

Hobbs State Park will host Jerry Moore and Chris Huggard, instructors at Northwest Arkansas Community College, who have spent several years researching the impact that “Rock” had on the Van Winkle mill operation. It was here in an industrial setting at the Peter Van Winkle Mill site in what is now Hobbs State Park, that “Rock” aided in making the Van Winkle Mill a regional, economic powerhouse of its day, becoming the manager of the mill after the Civil War. The event is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.