Photos of the Day - Starting with J

Albert Pike, a prominent nineteenth-century Arkansas politician and lawyer, also saw military service in the Mexican War and as a Confederate general during the Civil War. A somewhat controversial character, he is perhaps best known as a national leader in Freemasonry.

A number of communities have served as the county seat of Desha County since its creation in 1838. Napoleon, which was prone to major flooding, served as the county seat until 1874, when Watson became the seat. In 1881, the seat was moved to Arkansas City, where, in 1900, this permanent Romanesque courthouse was built at a cost to the county tax payers of $23,269. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

During the Civil War, the Confederate navy’s ironclad vessel bearing the state’s name was the ram CSS Arkansas. It was in use only twenty-three days, yet earned the rage of the Union and the respect of the Confederacy. In an effort to defend the rivers, the Confederate navy ordered the construction of two ironclads; one was christened the CSS Arkansas. The CSS Arkansas’s keel was laid in October 1861. The vessel participated in the Vicksburg Campaign. Her scuttling and burning on August 6, 1862, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is depicted in this period lithograph.

The Polk County railroad town of Vandervoort was named Janssen in honor of the wife of one of the men who helped finance the construction of the tracks. In 1907, due to mail delivery confusion with another Arkansas town with the same name, the name was changed, this time to honor the same man’s mother. The town’s growth peaked in the early 1900s with a population of over 500. When Highway 71 bypassed the town in 1941, the town started a slow decline. The 2000 Census indicated a population of just 120.

Grandison Royston of Washington (Hempstead County) was a leading politician for almost forty years. He served in the first Arkansas House of Representatives (1836-1837), the Arkansas Senate (1856-1858), the Confederate House of Representatives (1861-1863), and finally as president of the Arkansas state constitutional convention of 1874. His restored home is one of the featured attractions at Historic Washington State Park.

On January 29, 1947, an F-4 tornado produced major damage in the Fulton County town of Salem. The devastating storm took a northeasterly path through the community, destroying several houses but sparing much of the business district. No fatalities occurred on the day of the storm, though one person died from injuries sometime later.

This earliest known photograph of the Monticello (Drew County) town square, taken in 1879, presents a scene typical of an Arkansas town of moderate size. Taken by Mr. F. W. Eck from the top of a local hotel looking north on Main Street, the photo clearly shows the many wooden structures of the town of approximately 900 citizens. One of the few brick buildings, the county courthouse built in 1870-71, is shown to the right with its 110-foot-tall clock tower.

The city of Gentry was created in 1894 along the line of what eventually became the Kansas City Southern Railroad (KCS), established by Arthur E. Stilwell and designed to connect Kansas City, Missouri, with Port Arthur, Texas. The railroad connection made Gentry an important shipping point for local produce. By the time this photo was taken in the 1920s, the town boasted a prosperous economy and a population of more than 700.

In 1942, the U.S. government built a 2,800-acre airfield near Newport (Jackson County) at a cost of approximately $12 million. During World War II, the Newport Army Air Field was used by the U.S. Army Air Forces, the U.S. Marines, and the U.S. Navy. The land was deeded to the City of Newport after the war, with portions of it being developed into an industrial park.

In 1996, folk singer and songwriter Jimmy Driftwood of Mountain View (Stone County) became one of the first to be inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame. Driftwood rose to fame when Johnny Horton recorded his song “The Battle of New Orleans” in 1959, but he nonetheless generally stayed in his native Stone County and worked toward preserving the musical heritage of his fellow mountain people.

Postal service has been provided in Arkansas since the first post office was established within the future state’s boundaries at Davidsonville (Randolph County) in 1817. For many years, towns did not have a separate facility serving as the post office. It was very common for a local store to serve as both a business and a post office. One such example is shown here in the 1958 photograph of Art Hunter’s General Store and Post Office located in Boston (Madison County).

Most early 1800s settlements were situated along the nearest streams for trade and transportation. In many cases, such streams were never spanned by a bridge for anything other than foot traffic. Swinging bridges, such as the one shown here in Carrollton (Carroll County) in the 1920s, were fairly common. The settlement itself can be seen at the far end of the bridge.

Shortly after the Civil War, Union officer John Clayton moved to Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) to manage a plantation owned by his older brother, future governor Powell Clayton. He soon became active in Republican politics and was elected to the state House of Representatives and, later, as Jefferson County sheriff. Declared the loser in a bid for Congress in 1888, he traveled to Conway County to investigate suspected fraud. While in Plumerville, he was shot by an unknown assailant and instantly killed. Some years later, the U.S. Congress declared that he had indeed won the election.

The Ozark Regional Airport, formerly called the Baxter County Regional Airport, has served the Mountain Home (Baxter County) area since 1967. The approximately 338-acre facility consists of a terminal building, shown here in 2008, and a 5,000-foot-long asphalt runway.

Mount Magazine State Park is located on the highest peak in Arkansas, Mount Magazine, which is a plateau rising out of the Arkansas River Valley to an elevation of 2,753 feet above sea level. The federal government acquired the mountain in 1934, with the New Deal programs of the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps making improvements. The property was transferred to the state park system in the late 1970s, and the park opened in 2001. The shear cliffs of the mountain attract many people interested in rappelling and rock climbing.

Although a bypass now diverts traffic away from the little town of Hardy (Sharp County), old U.S. Highway 63 still runs through the heart of the business district. Settled with the coming of the railroad in the early 1880s, the town, situated on the banks of the Spring River, has never numbered more than 721 citizens. Mainly a tourist attraction due to its proximity to the river, the town in recent years has become something of an antiques shopper’s paradise. Many of the buildings in this 1950s photo now house shops offering local crafts and antiques.

When the Medical Arts Building was constructed in Hot Springs (Garland County) in 1929, it was the tallest building in Arkansas. Constructed to house medical offices, the building stands sixteen stories, rising approximately 180 feet into the sky. The building, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, sees limited use in the twenty-first century. While the first floor is occupied by a few small businesses, the rest is closed to the public.

The War Eagle Fair in northwest Arkansas began in 1954 as an attempt to showcase Ozarks arts and crafts. Limited to exhibitors from the Ozarks region, the fair, held along the banks of the War Eagle River, quickly became one of the most popular attractions in Arkansas. From humble beginnings, the fair, as shown in this 1980s photo, today attracts over 100,000 visitors yearly with an estimated $1 million in sales.

Confederate veteran Benjamin H. Crowley, grandson of the early settler for whom northeast Arkansas’s Crowley’s Ridge is named, is shown here many years after the war. He was a delegate at the 1911 National United Confederate Veterans Reunion held in Little Rock (Pulaski County).

In the early 1960s, Jim Porter was a leader in the racial integration of the music venues in Little Rock (Pulaski County), producing Arkansas’s first integrated-seating concert. Little Rock’s main concert hall, Robinson Auditorium, operated under an unwritten policy of segregation, resulting in many African-American acts refusing to play in the city. In September 1966, once this policy was abandoned, the auditorium hosted a Porter-promoted concert by Louis Armstrong, which sold out.

Cabot (Lonoke County) is one of Arkansas’s fastest-growing cities. Incorporated in 1891, the city, which has become a bedroom community to Little Rock (Pulaski County), was once an agricultural center and railroad shipping point for the area. Cotton is among the crops that are no longer commercially cultivated in the area. In this early 1900s photograph, farmers have brought wagon loads of cotton to town for sale to local brokers.

Little Rock (Pulaski County) poet and essayist John Gould Fletcher is widely acknowledged as one of the state’s most notable literary figures. He enjoyed an international reputation for much of his long career. In 1938, he received the Pulitzer Prize in poetry, for his Selected Poems. He was the first Southern poet to receive the prize.

Rector (Clay County), a railroad town incorporated in 1887, saw rapid growth in its first few years of development. Named in honor of former governor Henry Massey Rector, the town of mainly wooden structures and muddy streets survived a devastating fire not long after incorporation. The fire motivated the local Main Street businessmen to rebuild with brick, which can clearly be seen in this 1915 photo.

The Delta Cultural Center, a museum of the Arkansas Department of Heritage located in downtown Helena-West Helena (Phillips County), opened in 1990. The center features two museum locations: the Visitor Center and the restored 1912 Union Pacific Railroad Depot. Among the features of the museum is a permanent exhibit, shown here, tracing the history of blues music and the individuals from the area who have contributed to the development of the blues.

The town square area was always the business center of early Arkansas towns. When the downtown business area of Mountain Home (Baxter County) was photographed as shown here in the 1950s, the growing community had more than 2,000 citizens. By 2009, with its growing tourist industry due to the natural beauty of nearby Norfork and Bull Shoals lakes and the surrounding countryside, the town had a population of more than 11,000.

Joseph T. Robinson was the most prominent politician from Lonoke County in the twentieth century. He served as state legislator, governor, congressman, and majority leader in the U.S. Senate. When he was chosen as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 1928, friends and local citizens decorated his home in Lonoke for a homecoming party. The once prominent home was demolished some years ago.

Clay County is one of a small number of Arkansas counties that are home to two county seats and two courthouses. The course of the Black River made it difficult for many citizens to conduct business at the county seat, thus the establishment of dual seats at Piggott and Corning. Both courthouses are very similar in appearance, with the one in Piggott located in the downtown square and the one in Corning shown here, in a residential area.

Educated as a lawyer, John Grisham, bestselling author and Jonesboro (Craighead County) native, once described himself as a “pretty good story teller” who “sold too many books to be taken seriously as a literary writer.” Grisham’s breakout book, with the film rights purchased before publication in 1991, was his second novel, The Firm. Grisham usually pens a novel a year and has had over 60 million books published worldwide. Seen here is a ticket for a Jackson, Mississippi, book signing for his third novel, The Client.

Progressive mayor of Little Rock (Pulaski County) Charles Taylor declared war on vice during his administration (1911-1919). He appointed both white and African-American commissions to study social problems confronting the city. While many programs were initiated that seemed to limit “wickedness,” many critics claimed that vice was not curtailed but simply driven underground.

In 1890, Joseph Merrill, a Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) philanthropist, opened the Merrill Institute, which consisted of several rooms, a library, and a swimming pool. A strong advocate of education for all races, Merrill founded the institute for the education of the African-American population.

Born in Gurdon (Clark County) in 1923, Jimmy “Spoon” Witherspoon became a renowned blues/jazz vocalist and bassist. During his long career, he recorded and toured worldwide with the likes of Count Basie, Woody Herman, John Coltrane, Van Morrison, and many other music legends. By the time of his death in 1997, he had recorded more than 200 albums.

Louis Freund was a muralist who became famous for his depictions of life in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas during the 1930s. He was instrumental in establishing art departments at two Arkansas institutions, Hendrix College and Little Rock Junior College (now University of Arkansas at Little Rock), as well as Stetson University in De Land, Florida. He is shown here in circa 1954 explaining his work to two observers at Hog Scald Hollow in Carroll County.

When freshwater mussel pearls were discovered by Dr. J. A. Myers in the Black River in 1899, thousands of the seemingly worthless mussel shells were discarded. Large piles began to grow along the river banks until Myers learned that an Iowa company would purchase the shells to make clothing button blanks. A new industry was born, with factories, such as this one in Clarendon (Monroe County) shown in 1916, opening in the towns along the Black and White rivers. At one time, Arkansas was home to thirty-five percent of the United States’ button shell production. The boom was short lived; technology and the plastic button doomed the industry in the 1940s.

This 1936 commemorative stamp was the first official Arkansas centennial celebration collectible to be sold to the public. The U.S. Postal Service recorded the sale of 79,992,650 of the commemorative stamps. At least 376,693 of the stamps issued were canceled by the Postal Service attached to envelopes known as “first-day covers.” The issuing of such a large number of the stamps and first-day cancelations makes them an easily obtainable Arkansas collectible even today.

Pharmacist Frank Coffin operated one of the first black-owned drugstores in Little Rock (Pulaski County), the Children’s Drug Store, which he purchased in 1898. A native of Mississippi, Coffin held a Ph.G. degree from Fisk University and a pharmaceutical degree from Meherry Medical College, both in Nashville, Tennessee. He was also a published poet and served for a time as the secretary for Philander Smith College. Shown here is a 1930s-era ad for the Children’s Drug Store.

A person who starts walking at the east end of the hallway on the third floor of this building—the U.S. Post Office and Federal Courthouse in Texarkana (Miller County)—will reach Texas by the west end. The building, which was built in 1933, straddles the Texas-Arkansas state line. As a result, it is the only federal building in the nation that stands in two states and is also the only courthouse located in two judicial districts. The front of the building is a popular tourist stop.

With the construction of the railroad through parts of Madison County in the late 1800s, the timber industry began to flourish. In the southern part of the county, millions of feet of virgin hardwood trees were harvested to be sawed into lumber, railroad ties, and barrel staves and shipped to other states. The development of the small town of Delaney was greatly affected by the timber industry. Timber workers are shown here on one of the town’s main streets, with their mule teams delivering logs to the local sawmill.

Roosevelt L. Thompson of Little Rock (Pulaski County) was one of the most promising public servants in Arkansas in the last half of the twentieth century. Roosevelt, a star athlete and academic performer, decided at an early age to pursue a career in public service. Upon graduation from Little Rock Central High, he attended Yale University, where he attained a long list of honors including becoming a Rhodes Scholar. On a return trip from Little Rock in 1984, Thompson’s car was struck by an out-of-control truck on the New Jersey Turnpike, killing him instantly. Among the many posthumous honors given him was the naming of a new branch of the Central Arkansas Library System in his honor.

Of the seventy-five counties of the state of Arkansas, ten have been named in honor of presidents of the United States. On April 17, 1873, the state legislature named the newest county then to be created, Dorsey County, after Republican congressman Stephen Dorsey but renamed it Cleveland County on March 5, 1885, in honor of the nation’s twenty-second and twenty-fourth chief executive, Grover Cleveland.

In 1926, opera star and Garland County native Mary Lewis made a triumphant return to her home state. Lewis, who had appeared in vaudeville and silent movies, was one of the most popular and respected opera singers of the 1920s. In Little Rock (Pulaski County), she was welcomed by Governor Thomas Terral and presented a golden “Key of the City.” Lewis died on December 31, 1941, in New York, following a lengthy illness. She is buried in Alexander (Pulaski County).

Born in Crittenden County in 1913, regional artist Carroll Cloar used his childhood memories as subject matter for his art. The works he created from his life experiences and the images in old photographs defined his art, especially in his later years, and gained him national recognition. While well known for his lithographic work, Cloar also produced many paintings, such as this 1986 acrylic on panel titled Watermelon Girls.

The shelves of the I. W. Carpenter Store in Gentry (Benton County) are stacked to the ceiling with many of the daily goods necessary for survival in early twentieth-century Arkansas. What could not be produced on the farm was purchased at the local stores when money was available. Such stores abounded in small-town Arkansas.

The Cate Brothers Band has been one of the most popular bands from northwest Arkansas for the past thirty years. Playing a blend of rock, country, and rockabilly, the band signed with Asylum Records and released its self-titled debut album in 1975. Despite never attaining great financial success, the band has released a number of albums over the years and continues to record, tour, and perform. Earl Cate is seen here performing in 1994.

One of the most impressive structures in Arkansas is the reinforced concrete bridge with distinctive rainbow arches that spans the White River at Cotter (Baxter County). Built in 1930, it is the first bridge in Arkansas to be included as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. In 2002, the bridge was closed and underwent intensive restoration. The structure, which was named in honor of county judge R. M. Ruthven, was reopened to traffic in 2004. It is shown here in 2008.

It is estimated that 35,000 to 40,000 species of insects live in Arkansas. One of the most common is the termite. Subterranean termites infest wooden structures and probably cause more economic injury than any other pest insect in Arkansas. Shown here is a termite queen at swarming time.

On January 8, 1864, seventeen-year-old David O. Dodd was hanged as a Confederate spy on the grounds of St. Johns’ College in Little Rock (Pulaski County). Less than two weeks before, a Union sentry had discovered Dodd with a notebook detailing Union military positions in Morse code. His hanging became a gruesome spectacle because the rope used for the execution was too long. Instead of a quick death, it took approximately five minutes for Dodd to strangle to death. The body of Dodd, whom some call “the boy martyr of the Confederacy,” rests in the capital city’s Mount Holly Cemetery.

The northwest Arkansas planned community of Bella Vista (Benton County) began in 1915 when William Baker developed a summer resort on land he and his wife owned. Two years later, the Bakers sold the fledgling resort to the Linebarger brothers of Dallas, Texas, who sold lots for summer homes. Shown here is a drawing of what the development was expected to become. Early success was tempered by changing vacation habits, the Great Depression, and World War II.

Withrow Springs, located just north of Huntsville (Madison County), was named after early settler Richard Withrow and was an early area watering hole. The spring gushes out of a small cave at the foot of a bluff and was designated a State Recreation Area in 1961. Approximately four years later, the name was changed when the spring and the area became Withrow Springs State Park. Today, the almost 800-acre park is a haven for the nature seeker. Among the many activities available are camping, swimming, fishing, and canoeing on the War Eagle River.

Withrow Springs, located just north of Huntsville (Madison County), was named after early settler Richard Withrow and was an early area watering hole. The spring gushes out of a small cave at the foot of a bluff and was designated a State Recreation Area in 1961. Approximately four years later, the name was changed when the spring and the area became Withrow Springs State Park. Today, the almost 800-acre park is a haven for the nature seeker. Among the many activities available are camping, swimming, fishing, and canoeing on the War Eagle River.

Everett Spruce, an Arkansas-born artist and teacher, periodically worked in Arkansas in the 1920s and 1930s. He was the most prominent painter to emerge from a group of Texas regionalists in the 1930s. Works of Spruce, who died in 2002, are part of the permanent collections of more than thirty museums and public collections.