©Main Street Rush, AR. 2002

 The most famous mine at Rush was the "Morning Star," which awed observers with its quarry-like production of ore. Around the Morning Star Mine, a community of homes and businesses developed. This community endured until the 1960s.

Morning Star Mill as seen in a photograph published in the Engineering and Mining Journal, 1918

©Remains of Morning Star Mill 2002

©Remains of Morning Star Mill 2002

The heyday of the mining district came during World War I. All of the mines were in full operation, producing zinc for the war effort. As the war wound down, so did the mining. Soon the valley seemed a ghost town in comparison to the busy years of several thousand inhabitants. A mining revival in the 1920s was short- lived, but 'free-oreing" supported local miners until World War II. During the 1940s several of the processing mills were dismantled for salvage.

Until the closing of the post office in the 1950s, Rush maintained a community identity. Gradually, the remaining inhabitants left, until Rush became known as a ghost town. Today the Rush mining district is part of Buffalo National River. Rush is entered on the National Register of Historic Places as a significant site in the history of mining in northern Arkansas.