7 sites make most endangered list
Old military hospital among places group wants to save
A military hospital in Hot Springs, Grapette’s headquarters in Camden and a log-cabin jail in Lafayette County are among Arkansas’ most endangered places.
Preserve Arkansas announced its annual list of most endangered places on Friday.
“This year, due to the covid-19 pandemic, we decided to forgo the traditional press conference and opted for this Facebook live format instead just to ensure everyone’s safety,” Rachel Patton, executive director of Preserve Arkansas, said in the announcement streamed live online.
The list includes “seven to save” and “one to watch.”
The seven properties named to the 2020 list are:
■ Army & Navy General Hospital Historic District in Hot Springs, which was America’s first combined general hospital for both Army and Navy patients.
“The Army and Navy Hospital was also the first such facility established during peacetime and the only military hospital situated solely because of its proximity to hot springs,” according to a press packet
from Preserve Arkansas. “The facility was well-known for its work treating arthritis and polio through hydrotherapy.”
Located on Hot Springs Mountain overlooking downtown, the historic district contains about 30 buildings dating from 1908 to the mid1970s.
The Spanish Revival-style General Hospital Building was completed in 1933. It could accommodate 500 patient beds. The hospital provided vital medical care to soldiers returning from World War II, admitting nearly 15,000 patients from 1941 to 1945, many of whom suffered from rheumatic diseases, according to Preserve Arkansas.
In 1952, the military announced a plan to close the hospital. In 1960, the Secretary of the Army gifted the hospital complex to the state of Arkansas for use as the Hot Springs Rehabilitation Center, a facility for people with disabilities.
In May 2019, the state announced its intention to close the facility, which was then called the Arkansas Career Training Institute. The complex housed patients until September.
“Federal law stipulates that the former Army and Navy Hospital campus must revert back to the federal government if it is not used by the state of Arkansas for rehabilitation, health or educational purposes,” according to Preserve Arkansas.
The state intends to deed
the property back to the Department of Defense on July 1.
■ Bank of Carthage, Carthage (Dallas County) was a smalltown bank designed in 1907 by well-known Arkansas architect Charles L. Thompson.
The one-story, brick building is the only remaining historic commercial structure in Carthage and serves as a reminder of the town’s importance as a railroad and lumber hub, according to the press packet.
The building, which is privately owned and currently for sale, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, according to Preserve Arkansas.
The building is in an advanced state of deterioration, according to Preserve Arkansas. It has a large hole in the roof, missing windows and dense vegetation growth.
■ Grapette Building in Camden was the headquarters and bottling plant of the Grapette Co., makers of one of America’s best-selling soft drinks. The building now has structural safety issues, according to Preserve Arkansas.
Benjamin Tyndle Fooks, the founder of Grapette, purchased the industrial building in 1945 and added on to it later.
■ Henry Brothers Store in Jacksonville was a 1925 mercantile and the oldest building in the Jacksonville Commercial Historic District, which is listed on the National Register. The building is in desperate need of roof repair, according to Preserve Arkansas.
■ Old Jail Log Cabin in Lewisville (Lafayette County) is an 1830-era log cabin built to
serve as the county’s first jail, according to Preserve Arkansas. It is in need of emergency repairs, according to the press packet.
■ The Old Pocahontas High School is also known as the Old Rock Building. Located in Pocahontas (Randolph County), the 1939 building was constructed by the National Youth Administration and the Works Progress Administration, two New Deal programs.
For many years, this building housed the school auditorium. It’s in danger of being demolished to make way for a new school complex, according to Preserve Arkansas.
■ Plummer’s Station in Plumerville (Conway County) was home of Samuel Plummer, namesake of Plumerville.
The building is one of Arkansas’ three known “witness structures” to the Trail of Tears in the 1830s, according to Preserve Arkansas.
“Because of its position near the Military Road from Little Rock to Fort Smith, Plummer’s house also became a stop along the Butterfield Overland Mail Route, according to the press packet.
Plummer made his living as a saddler in his workshop.
Preserve Arkansas described Plummer’s Station as being “in extremely poor condition.”
“About 1900, wood siding was added to the home’s exterior, and the interior walls were covered with plank boards, preserving the original logs within the frame walls,” according to the press packet.
Preservation Arkansas also named War Memorial Golf
Course in Little Rock as “one to watch.”
“The historic Fair Park Golf Course, now known as War Memorial Golf Course, is significant as the oldest municipal golf course in Little Rock and for its association with the development of public recreation in the capital city,” according to the press packet.
The course opened in the 1930s and was closed in July by the city for budgetary reasons, according to Preserve Arkansas.
“While no formal redevelopment plans for the course has been announced, Preserve Arkansas hopes that the golf course will be maintained as open, public space for the residents of central Arkansas,” Patton said in her Facebook live video.
More information about the properties is available at preservearkansas.org.
The Most Endangered Places Program began in 1999 to raise awareness of historically and architecturally significant properties that are facing threats such as deterioration, neglect, insufficient resources, and insensitive development, according to a news release. Preserve Arkansas solicited nominations from individuals and organizations throughout the state.
“The list is updated each year to generate discussion and support for saving the places that matter to Arkansans,” according to the news release.
Preserve Arkansas is the only statewide nonprofit advocate for the preservation of Arkansas’s historic places.