Museums and Historic Sites

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Entry Category: Museums and Historic Sites

Pottsville Citizens Bank

In 1913, some sixteen years after the incorporation of Pottsville (Pope County), the town’s first bank—the Pottsville Citizens Bank—was chartered. On March 28, 2002, the bank, located at 156 East Ash Street, was added to the National Register of Historic places based on its contribution to the development of town commerce and the commercial architecture style of the building. The town of Pottsville slowly developed in the immediate area surrounding the house of the area’s first settler, John Kirkbride Potts, who arrived in the 1820s. As the town grew, town leaders determined that there was a need for a bank. A bank was chartered, and a one-story brick building was constructed across from Potts’s home. On September 2, 1913, the …

Powder Magazine (Scott County)

The Powder Magazine is located approximately fifty yards south of the junction of County Roads 96 and 99 in northeastern Scott County. The structure was built around 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 20, 1993. The structure was built by the 1707th Company of the Arkansas CCC District, which was stationed at the Waldron Camp. The structure was intended to store explosives that were used for bridge and road construction, as well as other conservation projects such as erosion control within the Ouachita National Forest. The Powder Magazine is significant due to its association with the Civilian Conservation Corps, which made significant contributions to American social history. …

Powhatan Courthouse

The Powhatan Historic Courthouse is located in the Powhatan Historic State Park, a stretch of a nineteenth-century river port town, and represents the rich judicial history and healthy commerce of northeastern Arkansas. It stands on a hill overlooking the Black River, not far from a collection of buildings that Arkansas State Parks also controls: the Powhatan Jail, the Ficklin-Imboden House, a commercial building, and the Powhatan Male and Female Academy. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program recognizes the courthouse as significant for Lawrence County’s history, while also serving as a good example of historic preservation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 16, 1970. In 1869, Lawrence County voters approved moving their county seat from the …

Powhatan Historic State Park

Powhatan Historic State Park preserves a small nineteenth-century river port town in Lawrence County, once a hub of northeast Arkansas commerce, industry, and government. Located on the Black River at the juncture of the Ozark Plateau and the Arkansas Delta, Powhatan pioneers had the advantages of easy river access, plentiful resources in the foothills, and fertile land. The first steamboat, the Laurel, arrived around 1829, beginning a series of landings that spanned over 100 years and stimulated civic and regional growth. Footpaths transformed into roads, a river ford into a ferry, and swampy delta into rich farmland, attracting merchants, farmers, and families. In 1837, the settlement name “Powhatan” was selected to honor the Virginia Native American chief, father of Pocahontas. …

Powhatan Jail

The Powhatan Jail was built in 1873 in Powhatan (Lawrence County) and is one of the few nineteenth-century jails still standing in Arkansas. The jailhouse was constructed as a companion building to the nearby courthouse. Originally, it was built with six cells, each quite large. The cells, built from strap iron and assembled by a riveted structure in a lattice pattern, were shipped in from Ohio by steamboat. John D. Edwards designed both the Powhatan Jail and first courthouse. This jail is thought to be the first jailhouse in Lawrence County built from locally extracted stone. The jailhouse’s design is common for nineteenth-century architecture, with the front third of the building intended to have a jail keeper’s residence. However, the residence …

Powhatan Male and Female Academy

aka: Powhatan School House
The Powhatan Male and Female Academy, first located in a log cabin built by Andrew Imboden in 1854, was the first school in the settlement of Powhatan (Lawrence County). The school remained open for just over 100 years, closing due to consolidation in 1955. Shortly after the construction of the school, Benjamin F. Mathews was retained as its first school master. It is believed that he gave the school its name. The first school term covered just two months. Being the only school in the immediate area, it saw steady growth until forced to close due to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. The academy reopened shortly after the end of the war. Apparently around 1880, the old …

Powhatan Methodist Church

The Powhatan Methodist Church is one of the historic buildings found at Powhatan State Park. The church exemplifies the nineteenth-century Greek Revival architectural style in which it was built. Records indicate that the Powhatan Methodist Church was formed in 1858 with a 284-member congregation under the direction of four local pastors. Members included white settlers, probationers, and African-American residents. Before the church building was constructed, church members in Powhatan (Lawrence County) may have gathered at the Black River for worship services. Around 1874, building plans for the Powhatan Methodist Church included one double-door entrance at the front and windows placed on each side of the building. The interior of the church has a large sanctuary with two cloak rooms that …

Prairie County Courthouse, Northern District

The Prairie County Courthouse, located in downtown Des Arc (Prairie County), governs county affairs in the northern half of Prairie County. DeValls Bluff (Prairie County), which has its own courthouse, is the county’s other seat of government. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program recognizes the two-story courthouse in Des Arc for its Georgian architecture and stature as one of the most impressive buildings in Prairie County. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 18, 1977. Des Arc was destroyed during the Civil War when Union soldiers dismantled the town for materials to use for its base in DeValls Bluff. By 1875, citizens had rebuilt Des Arc after Prairie County designated it as the county seat, replacing …

Prairie County Courthouse, Southern District

The Prairie County Courthouse governing the southern half of the county is located on the corner of Magnolia and Prairie streets in DeValls Bluff (Prairie County). The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program recognizes the two-story building as historically significant as a visible result of the New Deal and the only known building the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed in Prairie County. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 1992. In 1885, county administrators declared DeValls Bluff a second county seat to service the southern half of Prairie County, leaving the courthouse in Des Arc to govern the northern half. Several counties in Arkansas have a similar arrangement by which a county is split into districts, …

Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth

Telephone service came to Prairie Grove (Washington County) in 1888 when local physician Ephraim Graham McCormick strung a telephone wire across the city’s main street to his brother’s pharmacy. Since many of their neighbors also wanted to have telephone service, the brothers incorporated the company in October 1906. As the twentieth century dawned, the use of the telephone—and the telephone booth—grew tremendously. Outdoor telephone booths began to appear in the 1940s during World War II at military bases. They became prevalent throughout America in the 1950s. When the Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth was introduced in the mid-1950s, Bell Telephone System touted the booth’s new modern design and features, meant specifically for outdoor use. The aluminum frame, glass booth, and interior …

Presbyterian Village

Presbyterian Village is a residential care facility located in Little Rock (Pulaski County). At the time of its opening in 1965, it represented a new approach to healthcare for senior citizens in the area. Rather than focusing on one aspect of senior care, such as independent living or nursing home care, Presbyterian Village was designed to provide progressive care that could evolve with a resident’s changing healthcare needs. As a result, Presbyterian Village provided independent apartment living, assisted living, and nursing home care all in one facility, remaining the only healthcare facility of its type in the area until the mid-1970s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 8, 2020. Presbyterian Village was the brainchild …

Prescott City Jail

The Prescott City Jail is located in an alley behind city hall in Prescott (Nevada County). Constructed from concrete in 1912, the structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 28, 2005. Nevada County was formed in 1871, and Prescott was platted in 1873 when the Cairo and Fulton Railroad passed through the area. Incorporated in 1874, it became the county seat three years later. Little crime was reported in the early decades of the county. A jail was constructed on the courthouse lawn in 1896. By 1911, the building was no longer usable. That year, the home of a city council member was burgled, and while the thief was captured, he escaped from the jail …

Prescott Commercial Historic District

Located in the heart of downtown Prescott (Nevada County), the Prescott Commercial Historic District includes properties on both sides of the railroad tracks that divide the town. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 24, 2008. The borders of the district are roughly East Third Street, Walnut Street, West Third Street, and Pine Street. At the time of the district’s inclusion on the National Register, it contained eighty-six resources, of which forty-seven were contributing properties, with another property already listed on the National Register. The Nevada County Courthouse is located within the district and was individually added to the National Register on May 24, 2018. The Allen Tire Company and Gas Station and the …

Price Produce and Filling Station

The Price Produce and Filling Station is a complex of one-story Art Deco–style buildings at 413, 415, and 417 East Emma Avenue in Springdale (Washington and Benton counties). It was built in 1934 by Veaze Price. Price moved to Springdale from Missouri in 1923 and worked for several years with the Springdale Produce Company before deciding to open his own business. In the early 1930s, Springdale was a shipping hub for a thriving fruit and produce industry in northwestern Arkansas. Apples were a leading crop from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. By 1930, the area also had the highest concentration of vineyards in the state. Welch’s Grape Juice factory and Nelson Wine and Distillery, both located at Springdale, …

Pulaski County Courthouse

The Pulaski County Courthouse, located at 405 Markham Street, is in the heart of downtown Little Rock (Pulaski County). Two distinct buildings make up the Pulaski County Courthouse: a Romanesque Revival completed in 1889 and a Beaux Arts structure completed 1914. The styles are divergent from each other and symbolize different eras in Little Rock’s history. The Pulaski County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 18, 1979. The 1889 building was the first permanent courthouse in the county and was meant to demonstrate Arkansas’s growing prominence. Along with a new seat of justice, the city installed a water system in 1885, and the first paved streets were introduced in 1887. Little Rock and Pulaski …

Pyramid Place

aka: Southern Trust Building
The ten-story Southern Trust Building in downtown Little Rock (Pulaski County) opened in 1907 as the first skyscraper in Little Rock. Later called Pyramid Place, it began housing retail spaces, restaurants, and offices. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 26, 2013. In the early twentieth century, Little Rock was transitioning from a river town to a major city, thanks in part to its rapid population growth. According to the U.S. Census, Little Rock’s population more than tripled during this time, from 13,138 in 1880 to 45,941 in 1910. A 1906 Arkansas Gazette editorial complained that despite Little Rock’s growth, the city did not have a single skyscraper. Plans for a skyscraper had been under …

Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church

The Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church building at 1601 S. Louisiana Street in Little Rock (Pulaski County), known historically as the Winfield Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was designed in 1921 by the architectural firm of Thompson and Harding. This Gothic Revival–style church was built in stages from 1921 to 1926. The Winfield Methodist Church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1982. The building is significant because one of its designers, Charles Thompson, was among the most influential and prolific architects in Arkansas history. It is also significant because of its red brick and terra cotta exterior elements. The nomination forms for the National Register describe the church’s red brick cladding, terra cotta …

Quitman Home Economics Building

The Quitman Home Economics Building, located on Second Avenue, was built in 1937–1938 with assistance from the National Youth Administration (NYA), a Depression-era federal relief agency. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 16, 1994. The first public school in Quitman (Cleburne and Faulkner counties) was established in 1868, and the Quitman Male and Female Institute was founded a year later. The institute (later called the Quitman Male and Female College) constructed a three-story brick building that it used until closing in 1898. The building was turned over to the Quitman School District, which used it until fire destroyed it in 1932. Quitman’s leaders turned to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal agencies to replace …

Rabbit Foot Lodge

Built in 1908, Rabbit Foot Lodge in Springdale (Washington and Benton counties) is one of the best examples of Adirondack-style architecture in Arkansas. It was most notably home to J. William Fulbright and his family from 1936 to 1941. Located at 2711 Silent Grove Road, on a hillside above a spring and creek, the two-story residence was built for Dr. Charles F. Perkins and Edith Clark Perkins on land that had formerly been the old Jonathan “Uncle Bud” Smith homestead. The property had once been owned by Joseph L. Dickson as part of an 1857 land grant, deeded as remedy for claims arising under the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830); this treaty was mentioned on the abstract deed and …

Ragsdale, John, Jr.

John Gails Ragsdale Jr. was an engineer, philanthropist, and author whose writing topics included Dutch oven cooking and Arkansas history. John G. Ragsdale Jr. was born in El Dorado (Union County) on September 11, 1924, the son of lawyer, judge, and politician John Gails Ragsdale and Dimple Hill Ragsdale. He had one brother. After graduating from high school in 1942, he attended the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County); his studies were interrupted by service in the U.S. Army in 1945–1946. He graduated in 1947 with a degree in engineering. While at UA, he met Dora Dean “DeDe” Johnson; the couple wed in 1946 and had two sons and two daughters. Ragsdale worked from 1947 to 1981 for …

Randolph County Courthouse

The Randolph County Courthouse is an Art Deco–style brick and concrete building erected in 1940–1941 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in Pocahontas (Randolph County). The courthouse was built in a natural depression of one city block across the street to the west from what became known as the Old Randolph County Courthouse, the former seat of county government. The Randolph County Courthouse, which houses the offices and government of Randolph County, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 22, 1996. Citizens of Randolph County voted their approval for the building of a new courthouse in 1940. After the election, Judge Joe S. Decker appointed an advisory board and building commissioners for the construction of …

Randolph County Heritage Museum

Located on the historic court square in Pocahontas (Randolph County), the Randolph County Heritage Museum officially opened in 2006 during the Pocahontas Sesquicentennial Celebration and is owned by Five Rivers Historic Preservation, Inc., a non-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation and celebration of Randolph County history and culture. The museum includes three room-sized exhibits. The River Room is dedicated to the five rivers of Randolph County and their contributions through transportation, industry, recreation, and support to the local economy. The largest of the five rivers, the Black River, supplied the shelling and pearling industry of the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Included are a working button machine and a collection of original tools and implements, as well …

Ravenden Springs School

The former Ravenden Springs School is a Craftsman-style school building in Ravenden Springs (Randolph County). Built in 1941, the one-story rectangular building operated as a school until it was closed during consolidation in 1974. The school changed ownership many times but was acquired by the town of Ravenden Springs in 1990. The school was originally built with four classrooms and a library, but the building was later renovated to be used as the local town hall and community center. The school no longer retains its original interior design, but it still possesses significant historical integrity. The first documented school in Ravenden Springs was known as the Cave School. Run by Caleb Lindsey, this school dates back to 1815, where classes …

Redbug Field

Redbug Field in Fordyce (Dallas County) is a high school football field with its significance lying in the fact that future University of Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant learned to play the game there in the late 1920s. The regulation-sized football field was listed on the Arkansas Register of Historic Places on August 6, 2014. Football is important to the history of Fordyce, a town where Arkansas’s first high school football program was started in 1904 when New York native Tom Meddick organized a high school team at the Clary Training School. By 1909, Fordyce High School also fielded a team. The original playing field was behind the high school, but in the mid-1920s, it was relocated to accommodate a …

Reeves-Melson House

The Reeves-Melson House is a dogtrot-style wooden home located in eastern Montgomery County. With two pens constructed in 1882 and 1888, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 5, 1986. The first pen was built by William Reeves in 1882. After service as a sergeant in the First Arkansas Infantry (Union) during the Civil War, Reeves appears as a sheriff in Montgomery County in the 1870 census. He subsequently was listed as both a farmer and merchant in other censuses. Information in the National Register nomination for the property states that Reeves homesteaded eighty acres at that time. Reeves lived and farmed the land until the winter of 1887–88, when Larkin Melson purchased the …