Note: If you are traveling on I55 North to visit us, please use Exit 41. If you use your GPS, it will guide you to the wrong exit.
The Dyess Colony was created in 1934 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal to aid in the nation’s economic recovery from the Great Depression. As a federal agricultural resettlement community, it provided a fresh start for nearly 500 impoverished Arkansas farm families, including the family of music legend Johnny Cash. The colony has been resurrected through the restoration of several historic buildings open to visitors. The Dyess Colony Visitors Center, located in the Colony Circle at the former site of the theatre and pop shop, is the first stop. It includes a gift shop, orientation video, and exhibits. The Dyess Colony Administration Building next door houses exhibits related to the establishment of the colony, lifestyles of typical colonists, and the impact that growing up in Dyess had on Johnny Cash and his music. From the Colony Circle, visitors are shuttled to the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home, less than two miles from the Colony Center. It is furnished as it appeared when the Cash family lived there, based on family memories.
Hours: Tours begin at 9 a.m., with last tours of the day at 3 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays
Admission (includes all buildings):
$10 general admission
$8 senior rate
$8 group rate (groups of 10 or more- comp tour operator and bus driver)
$5 student rate (children 5-18 or with a university ID)
$5 field trip rate (comp all bus drivers and 1 chaperone per 10 students)
Free-children under 5, ASU students, and current Dyess residents
All tours start at the Visitors Center, 110 Center Drive
Click here for an interactive timeline of the Dyess Colony including restoration efforts, and visit the interactive timeline for the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home here.
Online Exhibits
Coming soon! Watch for planned online exhibits from our Dyess Colony photographic and archival collections. Several are in the works for 2019.
Project Videos
View a series of videos showing the restoration of the home; reactions of Cash family, friends, and special visitors; and ongoing programs and activities at the Historic Dyess Colony.
ExploreRecollections by J.R. Cash
Childhood Memories of Johnny Cash, edited by his youngest daughter Tara Cash Schwoebel and published through Arkansas State University.
ExploreJohnny Cash Heritage Festival
The 2018 Johnny Cash Heritage Festival was held October 18-20 in Dyess. Visit the festival website for information on the 2019 festival as it becomes available.
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