Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
Historic Preservation
Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood, 1803 through 1860
Shoppach House 
Shoppach House 
Shoppach House
501-918-3025
calsfoundation@cals.org
calsfoundation@cals.org
Shoppach House
aka: Sadie Praytor Home
The Shoppach House, located at 503 North Main Street (although some sources, including the National Register nomination form, give the address as 508 North Main Street) in Benton (Saline County), is the oldest surviving brick structure in Saline County.
The Shoppach House was built by German immigrant John (or Johann) William Shoppach after he purchased the land in 1853. (Many sources give the building date as 1852, but it was likely a bit later, soon after the 1853 land purchase.) The bricks used to build the house, and its well, were made on site. Shoppach was born in Hessen, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1830s, eventually making his way to present-day Saline County, where he built his family homestead southeast of Benton. Shoppach’s wife, Sibby Pelton Shoppach, was born in Illinois and had migrated to Arkansas by 1818. John and Sibby married in 1838. John W. Shoppach was elected county clerk of Saline County in 1852. He maintained his post until his death in 1861, when he was fifty-two years old.
During the Civil War, the small brick house remained home to Sibby Shoppach and her children, including James H. Shoppach, who enlisted as a Confederate private of Company E, First Arkansas Infantry. The house was used by occupying Union forces under Lieutenant Henry C. Caldwell in the fall of 1863.
The structure continued to house up to five generations of the Shoppach family until 1959. The Saline County Art League organized fairs in which handcrafted items were sold to raise funds for the restoration and maintenance of the house and its historic grounds. In 1962, the Saline County Art League had the Pilgrim Rest Church building moved to the grounds of the Shoppach House. A sign above the church’s entrance says that it was established in 1833. Pilgrim Rest Church had been located just west of Little Rock (Pulaski County), where it had been a beloved landmark. On the Shoppach House grounds, the building was reused as the Saline County Art Center. The Art League used the Shoppach House and its outbuildings to showcase various items of historical value.
In September 1974, ownership of the Shoppach House was transferred to the Saline County Art League, Inc., for the price of ten dollars. However, a restrictive covenant attached to the official warranty deed said that the house and grounds were to be used specifically as “an art center, historic landmark and showplace,” and that the house and outbuildings were to “never be removed or torn down.” Furthermore, the house was to be known officially as the “Sadie Praytor House.” (Praytor was descendent of John W. Shoppach, the original owner.) On October 10, 1975, the Shoppach House was added to the National Register of Historic Places. By May 1980, renovations on the Shoppach House were complete, and it had been furnished with period-accurate “heirloom” furniture and medical equipment donated by the families of local doctors and other private citizens.
In September 1981, the Shoppach House was opened to the public with the art of Dianne Roberts on display in the Pilgrim Rest Church building on the grounds. Among other items, the house features a large bed, a spinning wheel, a photograph of David O. Dodd, and Confederate currency. The Shoppach House and its grounds became a popular spot to see Civil War reenactors from the David O. Dodd Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Although the house and grounds are hardly used in the twenty-first century, they are taken care of by dedicated citizens.
The Shoppach House itself is in the American Colonial style, with the structure composed of brick-and-mortar walls and wooden window frames. The front features two multi-paned glass windows on each side of its front entrance made up of painted double doors and a small porch. On the house’s right side are two small four-paned windows near the peak of the roof with two larger windows below them that are identical to those on the front. The left side of the house features a brick-and-mortar chimney on the roof where the interior fireplace is located. Four windows mirror those on the right side. In back, there is an L-shaped porch made of painted wood slats nailed to supporting foundation boards. The exterior roof extends to cover the porch and is supported by wooden columns with no ornamentation. The exterior rear doors mirror the front doors, but they have arched glass windows in them. They are protected by a locked set of bars to keep out trespassers. There are also two more windows on the house’s newer addition, which is covered in white slat boards with green doors and window trim. The new addition has three windows facing the street on its right side.
For additional information:
Deane, Ernie. “Saline County League Holds a Christmas Fair.” Arkansas Gazette, December 4, 1962, p. 1B.
Dunnahoo, Pat. “Five Generations in One Home.” Arkansas Gazette, December 6, 1942, p. 3.
“Shoppach House Opened to the Public.” Arkansas Democrat, September 25, 1981. p. 5.
Taylor, Sandra. “Shoppach House.” National Register of Historic Places nomination form. On file at Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Little Rock, Arkansas. Online at http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/National-Register-Listings/PDF/SA0026.nr.pdf (accessed August 26, 2020).
Cody Lynn Berry
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
I have a blood connection to the wife of Mr. John W. Shoppach. She is my great-great-grand-aunt. According to the Goodspeed history, she arrived (with her family) in Missouri Territory, later to become Benton, Saline County, Arkansas, around 1817. The only other European settler in the area at that time was William Lockert, who later built the ferry and bridge at Saline Crossing.
John Wilhelm Shoppach arrived around 1836. John and Sibby were married July 8, 1838. Mr. Shoppach bought the property from David Dodd (not the boy martyr) and his wife Sarah on March 21, 1853. Mr. Shoppach had a farm southeast of Benton, in the Shaw Community. He was elected County and Circuit Clerk in 1852. Probably the reason he wanted a house in town, to forego the trip into town and back home every day.
The historic marker in the front yard erroneously states it is the John F. Shoppach House. John F. is one of John Wilhelm’s sons and was around five years old when his father built the house. John Wilhelm had another son whose name was James H. Shoppach. While his father John W. had passed away in 1861, James H. did live there from the time of its construction until he enlisted at Benton in Company E., First Arkansas Regiment in January 1862. His younger brother, John F., also lived there until he enlisted, before he was of age, into Col. Crawford’s First Trans Mississippi Cavalry. While they were away, their mother Sibby Pelton Shoppach still lived in the house with (by my count) five other children. John W. Shoppach and Sibby had eleven children in total.
The last private owner of the house was Hallie Christine Praytor-Tucker. She sold it directly to the Saline County Art League, on September 17, 1974. The Saline County Art League had been incorporated as a non-profit on March 2, 1962. In the original sale, there was a restrictive covenant placed on the property. One aspect of that was that the home would be referred to as the Sadie Praytor House (Mrs. Christine Tucker’s mother). All the covenants have since been released.
I am the current Board President of Saline County Art League, the non-profit responsible for the maintenance and preservation of the house and grounds.