The current Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Ark., will close May 16; a larger, more dynamic venue at old high school is expected to open in November

The Sultana Disaster Museum during a visit in late January (Civil War Picket photo)

A small Arkansas museum that tells the story of the steamboat Sultana disaster near the end of the Civil War will close after May 16 as a larger venue is completed a few blocks away -- the culmination of a long journey for the community.

The Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion made the announcement Thursday morning on social media.

“After years of welcoming visitors to 104 Washington St. on the Marion Courthouse Square, the current Sultana Disaster Museum will officially close its doors on May 16 as we begin the big move into our new museum home opening in November!," the post said.

“This move marks an important new chapter in preserving and sharing the story of the Sultana and the lives forever impacted by the disaster. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has visited, supported, donated, volunteered and helped keep this history alive through the years.”

John Fogleman, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, told the Picket officials anticipate opening the new museum with several days of activities beginning on Veterans Day (Nov. 11) and culminating with a grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 14.

Gene Salecker made this model several years ago (Picket photo)

The new venue will be in a former high school gymnasium-auditorium that was built near the end of the Great Depression.

Officials originally hoped the new site would open in April 2025, in conjunction with the 160^th anniversary of the maritime tragedy. But there have been delays and officials with the Sultana Historical Preservation Society had the continuous work of raising funds.

Marion, close to where the side-wheeler Sultana exploded and caught fire in the Mississippi River, will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and residents who helped save others who were plunged into the river in late April 1865. Among those residents were ancestors of Fogleman.

Marion is across the river from Memphis, Tenn.

About 1,200 passengers and crew perished. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, were on their way home when fire broke out following a boiler explosion. The tragedy has been remembered at the museum and in books by Gene Salecker, Jerry Potter and others. (Picket photo, left)

Remaining days and times for visitors to visit the current museum -- which opened in April 2015 -- are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 7-9 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 14-16.

Now the focus of the project will be looking forward.

"We can’t wait to welcome you into the new space this fall with expanded exhibits, new experiences and even more opportunities to honor and remember this important piece of history," the museum said.

Officials have been largely mum about specific exhibits, although the Picket got a rough idea during a visit to Marion in January. A large mockup of the Sultana will be the focal point.

The idea is to provide a more high-tech, interactive presentation than the old site. That will be especially important since very few surviving items from the vessel were located.

John Fogleman of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society shows mockup in gym (Picket photo)

The new venue will feature the main items in the former gymnasium. There are adjoining rooms for special exhibits and community meetings and events. Officials hope to draw on area schools for field trips.

Museum officials say the exhibits will build off the full story of the Sultana with information about the importance of the river, the Confederate prisoner of war camps at Cahaba and Andersonville, the bribery and corruption that led to the overcrowding of the side-wheel steamboat, the explosion and fire, and the creation of the Sultana Survivors Association.

Salecker, a Sultana collector, author and historian, has purchased many of the artifacts housed in the current museum.

The rooms include a 14-foot model of the Sultana, photographs of survivors and victims, reunion items and a few pieces believed to belong to the steamboat. (Not much survived, and the wreck is said to lie below a bean field east of Marion.)

John Fogleman shows board at new venue detailing donors and sponsors (Picket photo)

"As for the collection, I know that everything will be going over to the new museum but I do not know how much will actually be put on display," Salecker said in an email Thursday. "We have a lot of reunion and GAR items connected with survivors, but we only have limited space for the display of those items. I would hope that we will be rotating items from time-to-time to keep our displays fresh."

Salecker recalls the ceremony when the interim museum opened.

"We had a slight, drizzly rain that day during outside ceremonies. Perhaps the rain was appropriate since we were commemorating a disaster. The Heavens were crying for the 1,164 people that died on the Sultana."

Norman Shaw, a founder of the Sultana Association of Descendants and Friends, recalled the group's meeting in 2015 in Marion to mark the museum's opening. The weekend included descendants dropping roses into the Mississippi River to remember the dead and survivors.

"Even though in a temporary space, we hoped the new museum was only the initial step toward an eventual permanent museum," Shaw said. "Everyone involved worked hard and diligently in raising the $10 million dollars needed to build the new museum, followed by the many hours it took to plan and to oversee the building process."

Gene Salecker and his father Roy, who passed away in early 2025 (Special to the Picket)

Shaw said the survivors of the incident were committed to have the story told for generations.

"They would be most pleased if they could be present to see the doors open for the new Sultana Disaster Museum, but, no doubt, will be with us in spirit."

Potter said his memories of the small museum center around people who have come from all over the world to learn about the overlooked moment in U.S. history.

"I can still recall how many of them stood in amazement as this tragic chapter of American history was unfolded before them. Most said it was incredible -- almost unbelievable -- that they had never heard the story before. Being able to meet such people, to tell the story, and to witness their reactions is what I remember most," he wrote in an email. "This small museum has been the avenue through which the memories of those aboard the Sultana have been kept alive."