August 20, 1846

James Anthony Dibrell Jr., a founder of the University of Arkansas Medical Department (now the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences—UAMS) and its second dean, was born near Van Buren (Crawford County). His father, James A. Dibrell Sr., was a prominent pioneer physician of the Van Buren area. The Dibrell home at 1400 Spring Street in Little Rock (Pulaski County) became known as “the gadget house” because of Dibrell’s love of modern devices such as doorbells, burglar alarms, and central heating. The home, today still a private residence, remains as a cornerstone of Little Rock’s Quapaw Quarter Historical District.