Photos of the Day - Starting with S

Today, what is known as the Old Wire Road was once a major connection to the world outside Arkansas. The road, which connected St. Louis, Missouri, with Fort Smith (Sebastian County), followed an old trail that was improved in the 1830s. Telegraph lines reached St. Louis in 1847 and were extended along the road into Arkansas by 1860. Typically, the wires were connected to poles provided by local residents or simply attached to trees, such as this post oak in Pope County. This is believed to be one of the last surviving Arkansas trees to be used for this purpose.

By the mid-1950s, there was strong local support for the transformation of Little Rock Junior College into a four-year institution of higher learning. In 1956, local business leader Gus Ottenheimer chaired a task force instructed to study the feasibility of such a change. Within a few months, the committee recommended the move. In 1957, the institution became the four-year Little Rock University, which is today the University of Arkansas at Little Rock).

The alligator known as “Big Arkie” was discovered by a young boy in a flooded pasture near Hope (Hempstead County) in 1952. Once caught by locals, the thirteen-foot-long reptile was kept over night in the city’s children’s swimming pool and delivered to the Little Rock Zoo the next day. For eighteen years, Big Arkie was the main attraction at the zoo. Upon his death in 1970, the 346-pound alligator was stuffed and mounted. He remained on display at the zoo before being moved to the lobby of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Today, the reptile is privately owned and is part of the Herpetology Collection of the Museum of Zoology at Arkansas State University (ASU) in Jonesboro (Craighead County).

The old barracks building at the Fort Smith National Historic Site has changed considerably since its construction in the 1840s. In 1889, a new jail wing was added to the far end of the building. For several years, the building served as the courtroom of the famous Judge Isaac Parker. Completely renovated in 2000, it serves as the park service visitor center, with many exhibits detailing the long history of the fort and the area.

Many of the Arkansas Confederate regiments serving in the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War carried a flag designed by Lieutenant General William J. Hardee. A number of the flags were captured during the war and held by the War Department until the early twentieth century. At that time, several of the old banners, including the one carried by the combined 6th and 7th Arkansas, were returned to the state. Today, those flags are a part of the collection at the Old State Museum in Little Rock (Pulaski County).

One of the early twentieth-century commercial diamond-mining operations near Murfreesboro (Pike County) was founded by Austin Q. Millar and his sons. One step in the mining operation was the grease tables. Grease tables, shown here at the Millars’ plant on Prairie Creek, were used to separate diamonds from rock fragments.

The Balao Class submarine USS Razorback, named for the Rorqual family of whales, saw extensive service in World War II, during which it won five battle stars. After serving in Vietnam, it was decommissioned in 1970 and sold to Turkey, which subsequently sold it to the City of North Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 2004. On May 15, 2005, it opened for tours on the northern side of the Arkansas River as part of the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

When he was admitted to the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1948, Little River County native Silas Hunt became the first African American admitted to the university since Reconstruction and the first to be admitted to graduate or professional studies at any all-white Southern university. Required to attend segregated classes in the basement of the law school, Hunt, before completing his studies, fell ill from tuberculosis and died on April 22, 1949. In honor of him, the university presents the Silas Hunt Distinguished Scholar Award to deserving black students.

Toad Suck Daze, an annual spring festival in Conway (Faulkner County), features arts and crafts vendors, live music, a variety of foods, and toad races for children. It is held on the streets of downtown Conway, where more than 150,000 people attend the three-day event. No admission is charged, and proceeds of the festival support Faulkner County residents attending colleges located in the county. The crowd is shown here enjoying the activities of the 2008 festival.

Arkansas artist Robyn Horn has been recognized for her work on both a regional and national level. Working in several mediums, she began her career as a wood artist in 1983. Horn, whose work is regularly featured in craft and woodworking magazines, is the founder and first president of Collectors of Wood Art, an organization founded in 1997 to foster interest in wood art. Shown here is one of her many pieces of wood art, a burl piece titled Fractured Millstone.

In 1985, state representative Bobby Glover introduced a bill to designate milk as the official state beverage of Arkansas. The bill, Act 998, passed with no opposition, becoming effective on June 28 of that same year. Reasons offered for the designation included milk’s healthfulness, the desirability of encouraging milk consumption, and the importance of the dairy sector in Arkansas. The legislation did not specify any certain type or grade of milk as the official beverage.

During the dark days of the Depression, the U.S. government initiated a public art program designed to raise the spirits of the American people by reminding them of the glorious past. The works of art created for this program were displayed in local post offices. Twenty-one pieces of art, nineteen of which were paintings, were created for Arkansas post offices. Malvern (Hot Spring County) native Natalie Henry was one of only two Arkansas resident artists to participate in the program. Her 1940 oil on canvas titled Local Industries was displayed in Springdale (Benton County). The painting later became part of the collection of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.

This large granite marker placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy patriotic organization in the 1920s commemorates the role of Confederate soldiers in the 1864 Engagement at Jenkins’ Ferry. A small part of the battlefield has been preserved as Jenkins’ Ferry State Park near Sheridan (Grant County).

The bowie knife (shown here on an unidentified Union soldier) was made popular in the 1830s and has evolved into a specific form in current use. Originally, the bowie knife was worn for defensive purposes; its primary function was for personal combat. It was designed to be part of a gentleman’s attire, and the key difference between the bowie knife and a hunting knife, a dagger, or a dirk was, initially, the quality of finish of the bowie. Bowie knives came in a variety of forms—with or without guards, with differently shaped blades—and often were adorned with silver and other decoration, sometimes including etching and/or engraving on their metal surfaces.

Calhoun County was founded in 1852, approximately two years after the county’s namesake, John C. Calhoun, one of America’s leading eighteenth-century politicians, had died. The South Carolina native and Yale graduate served in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, was both secretary of war and state, and was twice elected vice president. He was a leading supporter of the doctrine of states’ rights and was still a very popular Southern figure at the time Calhoun County was formed.

The twenty-fifth governor of Arkansas, Charles Hillman Brough (1917-1921), was a strong supporter of public education in the early part of the twentieth century. As governor, he pushed for property taxes to fund schools, established compulsory school attendance, established an illiteracy commission, and was a strong supporter of both vocational and special education. He is shown here in his official gubernatorial portrait.

In the peak years of passenger train travel, the local depot was a hotbed of activity. Most substantial Arkansas towns had their own depots, many of which still survive today. The 1886 Frisco Depot in Mammoth Spring (Fulton County), long abandoned by the 1960s, was deeded over to the city in 1968. Today, the restored structure serves as a railroad museum and is part of Mammoth Spring State Park.

One of the five outbuildings of the Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie complex in Stuttgart (Arkansas County) is this two-thirds-scale replica of a Lutheran church much like the ones used for worship in early Stuttgart. The museum, which was founded in 1974, also houses some 15,000 artifacts and a 20,000-square-foot main exhibit hall that interprets the history of the area.

Evening Shade, located on U.S. Highway 167 in northern Arkansas, served as the seat of Sharp County for approximately ninety-five years. Today, the once thriving community is best known as the setting for the 1990s sitcom Evening Shade. Many of the exterior shots were filmed in the town. Producers Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason, along with series star Burt Reynolds, helped raise money for the local school, which was in part used to construct the Linda Bloodworth-Thomason/Harry Thomason Auditorium.

The Sebastian County town of Greenwood was founded in 1851 but was not incorporated until 1884. Designated as the first county seat, it now shares that responsibility with Fort Smith. By the 1870s, the surrounding countryside had become a main coal-producing area of the state, prompting substantial growth. Part of the growth resulted in the construction of many new buildings, such as the Brownlow Hotel and C. R. Owens Store, shown here in an 1887 photograph.

The S. T. Hatfield Hotel and Grocery in Manila (Mississippi County) is shown here around 1902, approximately a year after the town’s founding. The town was named in honor of Commodore George Dewey’s Spanish-American War victory at Manila Bay in the Philippines. Today, the town has an additional military connection: It is home to the state’s smallest state park, honoring World War I soldier Herman Davis.

Evanescence, an alternative rock band originally from Little Rock (Pulaski County), was formed in 1999 by friends Amy Lee and Ben Moody. The band broke onto the national music scene with the 2003 release of their album Fallen. The album, with two Top 10 singles, was on the Billboard Top 10 for almost a year. In 2004, the band received Grammys for Best Hard Rock Performance and Best New Artist.

The lower Little Red River, which flows from the base of Greers Ferry Dam in Cleburne County and enters the White River near Searcy (White County), is known as a popular trout fishing and floating stream. When this drawing was created in the 1890s, the river was still an important trade and transportation avenue for the White County area.

Coal fields in Arkansas are located in the Arkansas River Valley between the western border of the state and Russellville (Pope County), an area only about thirty-three miles wide and sixty miles long. Most coal mining in Arkansas has been located in Sebastian County and, from 1880 to 1976, accounted for fifty-five percent of the state’s total production. The small town of Hartford (Sebastian County) is one of several western Arkansas towns that supported coal-mining operations.

In 1868, the Institute for the Education of the Blind, founded in Arkadelphia (Clark County) in 1859, moved to Little Rock (Pulaski County). The school, renamed the Arkansas School for the Blind in 1877, was moved to a more central location to serve the state’s sight-impaired population. Eventually, the school occupied this impressive building on Center Street. It was relocated to West Markham in 1939, where it remains in the twenty-first century.

When Dale Bumpers (far left) ran for governor in 1970, it was only the second time he had run for public office; the first was a failed run for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in 1962. After winning the Democratic primary against seven opponents, he easily defeated his Republican opponent, Winthrop Rockefeller. Bumpers, who won reelection in 1972, is shown here at the Bicentennial Liberty Bell ceremony at the Arkansas State Capitol in 1974.

On courthouse lawns across the state are statues commemorating Arkansas in the Confederacy. Many of the state’s county seats have such a statue, usually dedicated to the common soldier. Some, such as this statue in Camden (Ouachita County), recognize Southern women’s role during the war.

Three rather stern-looking women and two children stand outside the Wilburn Mercantile Company in Cleburne County in this circa 1915 photograph. Through much of the twentieth century, such stores were the only contact that local country people had with the outside world.

In 1837, Smithville was established as the first county seat of Lawrence County. The once thriving trading center near the Strawberry River was named after War of 1812 veteran, Colonel Robert Smith. Soon a courthouse and jail were constructed. The town served as the county seat until 1868, when it was moved to Clover Bend.

In 1936, the seating capacity was increased at Haygood Field on the campus of Henderson State Teachers College in Arkadelphia (Clark County), shown here. With the increase in size, the facility was renamed Haygood Stadium, the name still honoring longtime football coach Jimmy Haygood. The stadium continued to host football and other events until the construction of Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in 1968.

In 1910, a new marble-laden public library financed by Andrew Carnegie and designed by noted architect Charles Thompson was constructed in downtown Little Rock (Pulaski County). The building, shown here, was razed in 1964. In 2009, the columns, which were saved, were relocated outside the entrance of the Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library in Little Rock’s River Market District.

The Georgian-style White County Courthouse located in Searcy is the oldest courthouse in Arkansas still being used for its original purpose. Completed in 1871, it was remodeled in 1912. As is typical of county courthouses, the grounds are home to a variety of monuments, including those honoring veterans of most of America’s wars. The building is covered in colored lights each December for Searcy’s “Festival of Lights.”

In 1887, Ned Christie was accused of murdering a Fort Smith (Sebastian County) U.S. deputy marshal. Finally, after almost five years of trying, a posse of twenty-two men, including these five, killed Christie at a shootout at his home in 1892. The posse attached his body to a wood plank and took it to Fayetteville (Washington County) and Fort Smith, where it was displayed to the public and photographed. Christie was eventually cleared of the deputy’s murder.

David Yancey Thomas was one of the most influential academic historians in the field of Arkansas history. He was a driving force in the re-establishment of the Arkansas Historical Association in 1941, was the first editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, was the chair of the Department of History at the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County) for twenty-eight years, and was known nationally for his scholarly books and articles.

The July 2, 1952, radio talk-a-thon initiated by Francis Cherry’s gubernatorial campaign is credited with helping sweep him into the governor’s office. When polls indicated that Cherry was in last place, he went on the air for twenty-four and a half hours straight, answering questions posed by average citizens. Twenty subsequent three-hour-long broadcasts moved him into second place. With his popularity rising, he defeated his Democratic rival Sid McMath in a runoff election by almost 100,000 votes and followed that up with a win in the general election. Cherry is shown here in his official gubernatorial portrait.

The highlight of the United Confederate Veterans Reunion held May 16-18, 1911, in Little Rock (Pulaski County) was the parade on May 18. This unit is passing the Rock Island Line office on Main Street. The parade went through City Park (now MacArthur Park) and returned north on Main Street. The parade was so long that it took approximately two hours for the parade to pass.

This building housing the Arkansas State Lunatic Asylum, later called the Arkansas State Hospital, was built in the 1880s. Land was purchased in 1873, but the building, which was financed by a property tax and state appropriation, did not open until 1883. Serving the state for approximately eighty years, the outdated building was demolished and replaced in the early 1960s.

The Fifty-fifth General Hospital, “the Underground Hospital,” at Robinson Maneuver Training Center in Pulaski County was activated on May 25, 1943, during the United States’ involvement in World War II. It was the brainchild of then-commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles Chute Gill of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. The Underground Hospital experiment sought to simulate battle conditions and assess the potential for providing protected medical care at or near the frontlines. Only ruins remain of the facility, as shown in this 2008 photograph.

Judge Jonas Tebbetts, a civic leader of Fayetteville (Washington County) from the 1840s to 1860s, is shown here. Due to his Unionist loyalties during the Civil War, Tebbetts was arrested on charges of treason and imprisoned for a brief time in Fort Smith (Sebastian County). Upon his release, he moved his family to St. Louis, Missouri. The Fayetteville home he built in 1853, today known as the Headquarters House, was used by both Union and Confederate forces. Today, it is home to the Washington County Historical Society.

Bentonville, the county seat of Benton County, was named in honor of Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton. While the area was settled in the 1830s, the town was not incorporated until 1873. This 1920s photo shows the downtown area where, in 1950, Sam Walton opened his Walton’s 5 & 10 Variety Store, the origin of the retail giant Wal-Mart. Today, Bentonville is one of the fastest-growing cities in Arkansas.

Construction on the Saline County Courthouse in Benton began in 1901 when Masonic Lodge No. 34 master Dr. Dewell Gann Sr. laid the cornerstone. Completed in 1902, the building is the third to be used by the county government. In continuous use since its construction, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

In 1934, Dr. Jeremiah Guthrie, a co-founder of the Missionary Baptist Seminary, became the school’s first president and teacher. He led the school for approximately eleven years until his unexpected death in 1945. Still in operation in 2008, the seminary is the oldest educational institution among the Missionary Baptists in Arkansas.

Reunions of Civil War veterans, for both the North and South, were common in the late nineteenth century. By the early twentieth century, with the war more than thirty years past, veterans of both sides often held combined reunions. This photograph documents one such reunion at Sulphur Springs (Benton County) in 1908.

Shown here is the Cotter Bridge in Baxter County, also known as the R. M. Ruthven Memorial Bridge, which was completed in 1930. Designed by Marsh Engineering Company, it is formally known as a Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge and was constructed using a design patented by James Marsh in 1912. Taking the Bateman Construction Company approximately a year to complete, the structure was dedicated in November 1930. A tourist attraction, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It has recently undergone complete restoration.

U.S. senator Joseph T. Robinson (left) of Lonoke (Lonoke County) is shown here attending the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 24, 1936. The convention delegates, which included Robinson and fellow Arkansas senator Hattie Caraway (on Robinson’s left), nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt for a second term as president.

The Casey House is the oldest existing house in Mountain Home (Baxter County). The house was built in about 1855 by early settler Randolph Casey, the county’s first representative to the state legislature. The pioneer dogtrot-style house is unusual in that it is built of milled lumber covering a log frame instead of the traditional exposed logs. The house has been restored and is maintained by the Baxter County Historical Society.

Cane Creek State Park, located in Lincoln County, officially opened in 1992, even though the 1,675-acre lake that was completed in 1983 opened for fishing in 1987. In 2000, the park staff began to rent kayaks and offer guided tours of Cane Creek Lake and Bayou Bartholomew. These tours have become one of the most popular attractions of the park.

On May 29, 1958, after seeing through the historic school year amid racial tensions, senior Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock Nine, became the first African-American student to graduate from Central High School in Little Rock (Pulaski County). He is shown here posing in his traditional graduation regalia.

Montgomery County native Violet Brumley Hensley received much state and national acclaim for her fiddle-making and playing talents. She made her first fiddle by hand at age fifteen and crafted about seventy instruments throughout her life. Known as “the Fiddle Maker,” she demonstrated her work at festivals throughout the nation and made several television appearances, such as this 1977 appearance on the Captain Kangaroo Show. In 2004, she was named an Arkansas Living Treasure by the Arkansas Arts Council.

Deluxe Studio of Hot Springs (Garland County) was a leading twentieth-century Arkansas photography studio. In 1933, at the age of fourteen, future television and film technician Orval Thomas began his career as an employee of the studio, mainly editing film. He is shown here as a young man promoting the studio by shooting film on the streets of Hot Springs dressed in costume.