Let's Do This

History buff hosts haunted tour in North Little Rock's Argenta area

Paul Prater (center), points to a photo during a recent Haunted Argenta Ghost Tour in downtown North Little Rock.
Paul Prater (center), points to a photo during a recent Haunted Argenta Ghost Tour in downtown North Little Rock.

On a chilly, late September night a group of brave souls has gathered on the sidewalk at Faucette Park in downtown North Little Rock for a tour that combines haunting and history.

"I want to see skeletons and vampires and ghosts," says 8-year-old Ella Eubanks.

Ella, her brother, sister and parents were part of the first Haunted Argenta Walking Tour of 2018, the 90-minute history- and haint-filled trek led by North Little Rock lawyer, author and magician Paul Prater.

Dressed in a black suit with a red vest and a bowler, Prater leads a group of 10 on an educational and entertaining stroll through downtown North Little Rock, also known as Argenta, highlighting not just the quirky history of the area but also plenty of spooky tales of restless spirits, mysterious devils and violent ends. He also debunks a myth or two along the way.

Tours start at 8 p.m. through Nov. 14. Tickets are $21.99. For dates and times, see hauntedargenta.com.

Sherwood native Prater began his Haunted Argenta Tour last Halloween season. He'd ­done similar tours for a friend in Jonesboro and wanted to bring something like that to North Little Rock after hearing some of the stories associated with the area, like the one of a ghostly image in a downtown window.

Prater was sitting on the patio at Crush Wine Bar with Joe St. Ana, his friend and wine bar owner who mentioned stories of a ghost that some said could be seen in a window above them.

"That got my wheels spinning," Prater says on the day after this year's inaugural tour. "I live in North Little Rock, I'm in Argenta most days and I really wanted to do something down there."

A visit to the North Little Rock History Commission proved fruitful.

"They gave me more stories, tons of history and pictures," he says. "From there it took off."

Cary Bradburn, the commission historian who helped Prater gather information for his tours, says Prater isn't just reeling off tales: "The thing I appreciate about Paul's approach is that he does assert what the history is. He has learned as much as he can about the real history, and he attempts to take the stories and put them in that context. Of course, he does some speculation."

As the tour starts, Ella's hopes to run across skeletons or vampires are quickly dashed.

"This is not an episode of Scooby Doo," Prater tells the group. "No one will jump out at you and yell 'Boo.' This is also not ghost hunting. We're not out with equipment or electromagnetic field meters, though I have had people bring them on the tours.

"What we do is talk about history, but you can't talk about the history without talking about the myths, the legends and the ghost stories down here."

Throughout the tour, which starts at Faucette Park on the south end of Argenta and proceeds north on Main Street before backtracking and ending behind Crush, Prater refers to a booklet of facts and images that he shares with his group, which can be as large as 20 on some nights. He covers the area's history starting with American Indians, through early 20th-century race riots and talks about the bars, brothels and funeral parlors that did business here during Argenta's colorful and sometimes violent history.

There are stories of spirits that might haunt some of the 100-plus-year-old buildings, including one of a boy killed in an auto accident who some say can be heard running around in what is now Reno's Cafe. There's also the story about the ghost of a young prostitute named Anastasia supposedly haunting Four Quarter Bar, and Prater shares what is believed to be a photo of the Argenta Devil.

He quashes a few popular myths as well, but we're not giving away any spoilers here.

The tours generally don't enter the buildings and businesses, but Prater has added a Boos & Brews Tour that goes into two of the "haunted" locations for "seance work in the style of Victorian seance mediums."

Husband and wife Kelley and Nico Kolettis of Little Rock are on their first Haunted Argenta tour.

"We've done haunted tours in New Orleans and I've done one in Charleston, S.C.," says Kelly.

"I knew about some of the stories from Four Quarter, but other than that, I didn't know any of the other stories," Nico says as the group walks down an alley as the tour heads for its final stop at a dumpster, where Prater tells a story about drug kingpins, murder and a voodoo doll lashed to a mirror.

"I would definitely do this one again," Nico says.

Let's Do This is a (very) occasional column about things to do off the beaten path in The Natural State. Pass along suggestions to:

sclancy@arkansasonline.com

Style on 10/16/2018

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