September 4, 2007

The McCollum-Chidester house, built in Camden (Ouachita County) in 1847 by Peter McCollum, is believed to be the first planned lumber house in Ouachita County. Building materials for the house were shipped to Arkansas from New Orleans. In 1862, John Chidester purchased the house for $10,000 in gold. During the Civil War, it was briefly used as the headquarters of Union general Frederick Steele. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, it is now owned by the Ouachita County Historical Society and is open to the public.