Womble District Administration House Number 1

The Womble District Administration House Number 1 is located east of Mount Ida (Montgomery County) and was constructed to house the administrative headquarters of the Womble Ranger District of the Ouachita National Forest. Constructed in 1940 by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 20, 1993.

The CCC established companies throughout the country to offer unemployed men a way to provide for their families while also constructing needed facilities and structures. CCC Company 741 was established at Camp Pike (which later became Camp Joseph T. Robinson) on May 1, 1933. Moving to Crystal Springs (Garland County), near Black Springs (Montgomery County) in the Ouachita National Forest on May 17, the company completed numerous projects throughout the forest. One project was the construction of a building to house the ranger headquarters for the district.

The house is one and a half stories tall with a continuous stone base. The rectangular frame structure is topped with a gable roof covered in composition shingles. The exterior walls are covered in novelty siding. Facing south, the house has a centrally located porch with a projecting gable covered in vertical board-and-batten siding. In the gable above the door to the porch is a louvered vent. The porch is enclosed with glass. Single six-over-six windows are located on each side of the porch. Storm windows have been added to these windows.

The eastern side of the house has three six-over-six windows, with two located on the first floor and one on the second. Two exterior ladders are located on the east side of the house. The western side of the house has two six-over-six windows. The rear of the house includes a screened porch. The house has a central brick chimney. Also included in the National Register nomination are a gable-roofed garage and a gable-roofed storage building.

The building served as the headquarters for the Womble Ranger District for more than fifty years and remains in the hands of the U.S. Forest Service.

A good surviving example of a CCC-constructed property, the Womble District Administration House Number 1 is important not only for its connection to the New Deal program that constructed it but also for its connection to the Ouachita National Forest.

For additional information:
Smith, Sandra Taylor. The Civilian Conservation Corps in Arkansas, 1933–1942. Little Rock: Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, 1991. Online at http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/News-and-Events/publications (accessed October 15, 2020).

“Womble District Administration House Number 1.” National Register for Historic Places registration form. On file at Arkansas Historic Preservation Office, Little Rock, Arkansas. Online at http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/National-Register-Listings/PDF/MN0028.nr.pdf (accessed October 15, 2020).

David Sesser
Henderson State University