Arkansas City Commercial District

Located in the Mississippi River town of Arkansas City (Desha County), the Arkansas City Commercial District encompasses the three oldest surviving business structures in the area: the Cotham Drug Store, Red Star Grocery, and Ramus Brothers Market. What was once a bustling river town is now a much calmer location; the 2020 federal census counted fewer than 400 residents. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 18, 1999.

The earliest white settlers in the area arrived in the early 1830s and used the labor of enslaved people to clear the land for agricultural purposes. Little growth occurred before the Civil War. A post office opened in Arkansas City in 1872, and the city, then located in Chicot County, was incorporated the following year. In 1879, the area of Chicot County where Arkansas City is located became part of Desha County, and Arkansas City became the county seat.

An economic powerhouse along the Mississippi River, Arkansas City boasted multiple railroads, saloons, and sawmills, as well as an expansive port along the river. The population approached 1,500 in the 1910 federal census. This population made the city a commercial center for residents across southern Desha County, and, since it was the county seat, people from across the county visited the city for legal business.

A fire swept through the commercial district in 1884, leading to the lynching of Mat Orton, who was accused of the crime. Construction of new commercial buildings began in the area to replace those lost in the blaze. Only three buildings remain from this period.

The Cotham Drug Store and the Red Star Grocery are adjoining red brick buildings located on DeSoto Street, facing the south and the Mississippi River levee. The Ramus Brothers Market is located to the rear of the other two buildings and faces west, fronting Sprague Street. The adjoining buildings are both two stories in height and are fronted by a balcony on the second floor, covering the sidewalk below. The balcony is covered and is accessible by a set of stairs located on the east side of the building. The Cotham Drug Store, constructed around 1900, is located to the west of the Red Star Grocery. It is fronted on the first floor by a recessed double door entryway with multiple wide windows and transoms. The second floor includes two windows with two-over-two panes and a door located on the west side of the southern elevation, offering access to the balcony. Over the decades, the building housed a grocery and meat market, post office, and drugstore, and the second floor hosted a restaurant for a period.

The Red Star Grocery is slightly wider than the drugstore but is similar in many aspects. Also constructed around 1900, the building has a flat front rather than a recessed one like the drugstore, and the clear glass panes have been replaced by black glass tiles. Both buildings are topped with a sloping roof and fronted by a brick parapet. Another building formerly adjoined the west side of the drugstore but is no longer standing. The Red Star Grocery was constructed by John George Reitzammer and operated by the family until 1979.

The Ramus Brothers Market, constructed circa 1910, is also a two-story brick building fronted by a wide porch and balcony. The front entrance is a recessed centrally located door flanked by large windows. The second floor includes a centrally located door leading to the balcony flanked by windows. Little is known of the Ramus family, although the poured-concrete foundation of the building makes it unique in the community. The building originally housed a market on the first floor with an apartment on the second floor.

The three buildings are a reminder of the former grandeur of Arkansas City; they all remain in private hands in the twenty-first century.

For additional information:
“Arkansas City Commercial District.” National Register of Historic Places registration form. On file at Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Little Rock, Arkansas. Online https://www.arkansasheritage.com/docs/default-source/national-registry/de0307-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=4e198a4_0 (accessed November 20, 2024).

Images from the Past: A Pictorial History of Desha County, Arkansas and Southeast Arkansas Delta. Marceline, MO: Heritage House, 1992.

David Sesser
Southeastern Louisiana University