Preserve Arkansas works to save state's endangered places; churches, railroad depot, drugstore on this year's list

The sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church in Fordyce “looks like a cozy little chapel,” says Agnes Phillips of Historical Fordyce Inc. The church is one of Arkansas’ Most Endangered Places, according to Preserve Arkansas.
The sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church in Fordyce “looks like a cozy little chapel,” says Agnes Phillips of Historical Fordyce Inc. The church is one of Arkansas’ Most Endangered Places, according to Preserve Arkansas.

In 2008, when talking about Yankee Stadium in New York being dismantled and replaced by a newer version, Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller made this observation: "Yankee Stadium, it's like everything else in this country. In Europe, they save all their old buildings for history. Here, we just tear them down."

Preserve Arkansas, the North Little Rock-based nonprofit that advocates for historic preservation, doesn't want to see any of the state's historic structures or sites get torn down, by people or the ravages of time.

"Our mission is to save the state's historic places," Preserve Arkansas director Rachel Patton says. "We do that through advocacy, education and technical assistance."

And the list.

. . .

Each year the group, which was founded in 1981, asks Arkansans to submit nominations for properties that are in danger of being lost, whether through development, age or other factors. A selection committee is then assembled to whittle down the nominees and construct the current list of Arkansas' Most Endangered Places.

Announced at a May 4 news conference at Curran Hall in Little Rock, the 2018 list includes 10 structures and sites that stretch from Northwest Arkansas to the Delta. There are churches, a depot, a drugstore, a former camp for Italian prisoners of war, an antebellum home, a cemetery and a tourist home for black visitors during the Jim Crow era.

"All of the places on the most endangered list are irreplaceable historic and cultural resources," Patton says. "Once they're gone, they're gone. There's no re-creating exactly what they were."

Included in this year's list are Ponder's Drug Store, 2121 W. 16th St., Little Rock; Camp Monticello, Arkansas 35 east of Monticello; Centennial Baptist Church, York and Columbia streets, Helena-West Helena; First Baptist Church/Ernie's Museum of Black Arkansas, 1200 Louisiana St., Little Rock; First Presbyterian Church, 212 W. Fourth St., Fordyce; Latimore Tourist Home, 318 S. Houston St., Russellville; Magnolia Cemetery, 108 Wire Road, Helena-West Helena; Rock Island Railroad Depot, 306 W. Choctaw Ave., Perry; Quinn African Methodist Episcopal Church, 723 N. Eighth St., Fort Smith; and the Thomas-Tharp House, 2650 W. Old Farmington Road, Fayetteville.

For details on each site, visit preservearkansas.org.

"It's our history," says Patton at Preserve Arkansas' offices in First Presbyterian Church in downtown North Little Rock. "It's the built landscape of our state. It's the built heritage of where we've been and what's important about the state of Arkansas. It's much easier to interpret Arkansas heritage when you have a historic structure of some sort standing."

. . .

The buildings on this year's list are still standing, mostly, though some need varying degrees of help. The list is Preserve Arkansas' way of calling attention to these places.

Patton says threats to the properties can range from "encroaching development, imminent demolition; it can also be that someone has a lack of resources and they're trying to find a way to sell the property to someone who can afford to do something with it."

The most endangered places program began in 1999 to raise awareness of the state's historic properties and the dangers they face, according to Preserve Arkansas' press materials. Formerly listed spots include Johnny Cash's boyhood home in Dyess (which was recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places), the Rohwer Japanese-American Relocation Center, downtown Hot Springs, the William Woodruff House in Little Rock and others.

Properties are nominated by individuals, communities and organizations, Patton says.

"We put out the call for nominations to the public. They can fill out the form on our website [preservearkansas.org], or we can mail it to them."

Inclusion on the list isn't a way to shame property owners, Patton says, it's just a way to hopefully get some help for a historically significant property.

"We get calls every day about endangered historic places," Patton says. "We talk with people about how we can help them get grants or tax credits."

Advising owners or concerned citizens how a property can get listed on the National Register of Historic Places can be a first step.

"That's kind of a starting point," Patton says. "Depending on the ownership and its national register status, it can be eligible for historic rehab tax credits. If it's owned by a municipality or a nonprofit, it can be eligible for grants from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program."

Inclusion on the list or even the national register doesn't mean salvation for these properties, Patton says. The Home Ice Company Building, an early 20th-century industrial structure that once stood at 700 Cate Ave. in Jonesboro, was condemned by the city and demolished even though it was on the 2017 list.

"It was on the list in May, it was put on the national register in June of 2017," but was eventually knocked down after a judge dismissed an appeal of the condemnation, Patton says.

. . .

Shelle Stormoe is Preserve Arkansas' vice president for education and served as chairman of this year's selection committee, which also included Dr. Story Matkin-Rawn, James Meyer, Paul Porter and Laura Winning. There were 12 properties nominated this year, which the committee pared down to 10.

"Our main concern with the committee was if we felt like the property was actually endangered and that the property could benefit from that endangered status," Stormoe says.

Among those is the Latimore Tourist Home in Stormoe's hometown of Russellville.

Built by black carpenter Gordon Parker at the turn of the 20th century, the house was bought in the 1930s by Eugene Latimore, an educator and steam engine repairman. He and his wife, Cora, opened the house as a tourist home for black travelers. During the Jim Crow era, when facilities and services were segregated, the Latimore Tourist Home was a haven for black travelers on the road between Little Rock and Fort Smith.

"It has for many years been a property that I've been interested in," Stormoe says. "It was an African-American boarding house that was the only place African-Americans could spend the night between Little Rock and Fort Smith for many, many years. It's really important to African-American history in Arkansas."

The building is owned by a nearby church but is currently boarded up and condemned. Preserve Arkansas believes it can be saved.

. . .

Agnes Phillips of the newly formed nonprofit Historical Fordyce Inc., nominated First Presbyterian Church in Fordyce to this year's list.

The church was designed by Tennessee architect Reuben Harrison Hunt and was built in 1912. The sanctuary accommodated 350 worshippers with rollup doors providing overflow room during weddings and funerals.

"It has an open floor plan, but it has a sanctuary that looks like a cozy little chapel," Phillips says. "It has walnut paneling that is just beautiful, and those beautiful windows. I was told they were from Venice, but we haven't been able to positively pin that down."

When the local Presbyterian congregation disbanded about 10 years ago, the church began to fall into disrepair. Roof leaks have caused some damage and the foundation settling has caused a wall to crack.

Historical Fordyce has taken possession of the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is hoping to restore it.

"We're dreaming a little large," says Phillips, who started the Dallas County Historical Museum in 1993, "but I think this could be a major attraction for this part of the state. This church is a truly beautiful structure."

. . .

The Rock Island Railroad Depot in Perry was set to be knocked down to make way for a new machine shop when the Perry County Historical and Genealogical Society started an effort to move the building to a site just across the tracks where it now stands. Genesee & Wyoming Railroad, the parent company of the depot's current owner, Little Rock & Western Railway, is willing to let the group have the structure, but it needs to be moved soon, Patton says.

Michael Hibblen, news director of public radio station KUAR-FM in Little Rock, nominated the depot.

"It's an incredible relic," the North Little Rock native says. "When you drive by it, it's almost like you're shifted back in time."

It's a bit of a miracle that the building is still there.

"A lot of times, railroads would tear down their depots after passenger service ended. When the railroads didn't need them anymore they would often tear them down because they had to pay property taxes on the depots," Hibblen says.

The structure still sports its semaphore signals, which were one of the earliest forms of fixed railway signage.

The depot has been used for storage in recent years and, along with needing to be moved, it also needs some TLC.

A small piece of land donated by Perry a few hundred feet down the tracks from where it now sits will hopefully be the depot's new home, says Hibblen, who knows a little bit about Arkansas rails. His book, Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas, was published last year.

Being set alongside the tracks is key to helping the depot get on the National Register of Historic Places, he says.

. . .

Before she became director at Preserve Arkansas a year and a half ago, Patton worked for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, a state agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The state's history and its important structures are close to her heart.

But there was one place on this year's list that was new to her.

"The Magnolia Cemetery in Helena-West Helena. I didn't know anything about that."

Located on the west side of Crowley's Ridge opposite Maple Hill Cemetery, Magnolia is the final resting place for many from Helena-West Helena's black community.

Maple Hill and Magnolia were established in 1870 as Evergreen Cemetery, with separate sections for black and white people. In 1899, 15 black residents formed the Magnolia Cemetery Company and bought the black portion for $400.

Because of its topography, many of the gravesites have been damaged by erosion and flooding.

"Cleaning it up and maintaining it is one huge battle," Patton says. "The cemetery association is active again and they have done some cleanup, but it will take some expertise and money to reset those stones and get the water to drain a different way."

A class at Arkansas State University is working toward getting the cemetery listed on the National Register, Patton adds, which will help when applying for grants to restore the property.

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Built in 1912, First Presbyterian Church in Fordyce was designed by Tennessee architect Reuben Harrison Hunt.

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CARY JENKINS

The Rock Island Railroad Depot in Perry was about to be destroyed until the Perry County Historical and Genealogical Society stepped in to try to save the historic structure.

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The Magnolia Cemetery in Helena-West Helena was established in 1870 as Evergreen Cemetery.

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Ponder’s Drug Store at 2121 W. 16th St., Little Rock, in the past was Q.T.’s Arcade and housed barber and beauty shops.

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Rachel Patton is the executive director of Preserve Arkansas.

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CARY JENKINS

Barbed wire fencing stands at the site of Camp Monticello, where Italian prisoners of war were held during World War II.

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In Helena-West Helena, metal beams brace the back wall of Centennial Baptist Church, which was first on Preserve Arkansas’ list of Most Endangered Places in 2006.

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A large window on the front of Centennial Baptist Church is shown in Helena-West Helena.

Style on 05/27/2018

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