Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Historic Districts Added To Register
PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove added to its list of historically known places this month.
Two historic districts in downtown Prairie Grove are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior. The Register is the country’s official list of historically significant properties.
Prairie Grove Commercial Historic District is located on the south side of East Buchanan Street, between 107 and 305 Buchanan, and includes Mock Park at 123 S. Neal. Some of the buildings date back to 1883.
North Mock Street Commercial Historic District consists of buildings at 114 and 116 North Mock St. This includes the building that now houses Fat Rolls bakery and the Masonic Lodge building next door. Both structures are described as turn-of-the-century commercial buildings.
Mayor Sonny Hudson said he believes the national recognition will encourage downtown merchants to take care of their buildings and to be interested in preserving their properties.
“We have some historic buildings and for them to get recognized is a great deal,” Hudson said. “I think it makes folks realize how important some of these buildings are. As we go forward, we want to take care of them and we need to preserve others.”
Hudson said it also gives people another reason to come to Prairie Grove, a chance to see a downtown area named to the National Register.
The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program initiated the process to nominate the two districts for the National Register as part of a program to try to create historic districts in downtown areas across the state, according to Ralph Wilcox, national registrar and survey coordinator for the program.
The State Review Board for the Preservation Program voted in April
to nominate both districts as candidates for the National Register.
At the time, Wilcox said the Prairie Grove Commercial Historic District was nominated for its architecture and its association with the commercial history of Prairie Grove.
The district has 2.6 acres and represents the main thoroughfare in the town’s central business section. One building in the district, the Southern Mercantile Building, was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The nomination notes the Prairie Grove Commercial Historic District reflects local and regional commercial development trends in the early period of the town’s history during its heyday of canning factories, fruit orchards, poultry and livestock production and lumber mills.
The North Mock Street Historic District was nominated to the National Registry in part for its ornate, metal fronts, according to Wilcox.
The building at 114 N. Mock Street was constructed in 1903 as B.H. Harrison Masonic Temple and now provides meeting space for Prairie Grove’s Occidental Lodge No. 436.
The building next door at 116 N. Mock St., was constructed in 1904 by B.F. Carl and originally was Ozark Mercantile Co., selling furniture and caskets. It now has Fat Rolls Bakery on the first floor and residential space on the second floor.
The predominant style for both is Early Twentieth Century Standard Commercial.
Rick Ault, chairman of Main Street Prairie Grove Advisory Board, said having the two historic districts named to the National Register is “another important step toward historic preservation and economic revitalization for our downtown.”
The National Register announcement was made just a few weeks after Prairie Grove’s acceptance into the Arkansas Downtown Network program with Main Street Arkansas. In addition to the prestige of being included on the list, National Register properties may be able to take advantage of tax credits, grants, and free technical advice to owners, Ault said.
Hudson said the news has newly motivated him to start plans to upgrade and preserve the city’s former Water Works building, completed in 1933.
“The building is small but it’s historic,” Hudson said. “We’ve talked about it but we need to quit talking and do something about it. Other folks are trying to preserve their buildings so we need to preserve ours.”
The Main Street Prairie Grove Board also is talking about “quick impact” ideas to help downtown, Ault said. These include historic signage, parking signage, downtown greenery, benches and updated garbage cans.
“Over the next few months, we will begin to work on longer term plans with resources provided through Main Street Arkansas and the Arkansas Historic Preservation Society. Support from the community, city administration, and the Chamber of Commerce has been key to the momentum we have seen over the last few months and will be vital for our continued progress,” Ault said.
Other national historic places in Prairie Grove include the historic section of Prairie Grove Cemetery and Prairie Grove Battlefield. Prairie Grove also boasts the first, and so far only, telephone booth listed on the National Register. The 1959 Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth was named to the list in November 2015.