Blakely House

The Blakely House was constructed as a dogtrot-style house in 1874 by the son of one of the early settlers in the Social Hill (Hot Spring County) area. Located on Arkansas Highway 84, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 3, 1976.

Adam Blakely arrived in the area in the 1820s and, by 1837, owned almost 200 acres of land in the area. Over the next several decades, Blakely built a successful plantation near the Ouachita River and the waterway named for him, Blakely Creek.

The house was constructed by Adam Blakely’s youngest son, Greenberry (or Green Berry) Blakely. Born on December 25, 1855, he married Martha Ingersoll (sometimes spelled Englesaw) on December 12, 1875. Blakely lived in another home on the same property with his mother when he constructed the home. Once the dogtrot was completed, the other home was used as a barn. The couple had nine children and remained in the home until their deaths. Martha died on March 25, 1929, and Greenberry died on January 4, 1935.

The house was constructed as a two-pen structure facing south. Built from logs and covered with boards, the house sits on a stone foundation with a dirt cellar. The roof overhangs the front porch and each end of the house by four feet, covering the stone chimneys located at each end of the home. Around 1890, the central breezeway in the house was enclosed, creating a third room, and a central front door was installed. The exterior covering of boards was also added to the building at this time. This front door is flanked on each side by two-paned sidelights. A set of concrete steps leads from the ground to the porch, which is supported by four wooden posts. Four two-over-one windows look out over the porch. The house has extensive woodworking details throughout, including molded door and window trim.

The first expansion of the house took place around 1890 when an addition was constructed on the rear of the home. In 1900, the log walls were covered with clapboard siding.

The house was privately owned. While some efforts to preserve the structure were made at the time it was added to the National Register, it was long unoccupied and in a state of disrepair. By early 2021, it had been demolished.

For additional information:
“Blakely House.” National Register of Historic Places registration form. On file at Arkansas Historic Preservation Office, Little Rock, Arkansas. Online at http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/National-Register-Listings/PDF/HS0043.nr.pdf (accessed July 3, 2018).

Finch, Mrs. Joseph E. “Social Hill Methodist Church Has Very Interesting History.” Heritage of Hot Spring County 1 (1970): 155–164.

David Sesser
Henderson State University