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SANDWICHING IN HISTORY SCHEDULE
The "Sandwiching In History" program is a series of tours that seeks to familiarize people who live and work in central Arkansas with the historic structures and sites around us. The tours take place on Fridays at noon, last less than an hour, and participants are encouraged to bring their lunches so that they can eat while listening to a brief lecture about the property and its history before proceeding on a short tour. A representative from the property is encouraged to attend also and address the group.
The tours are organized by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. All tours are free and open to the public.
View Archived Sandwiching in History Tour Scripts
Arkansas Baptist College Old Main Building |
June 1, 2012 - Arkansas Baptist College Old Main Building
Arkansas Baptist College Old Main Building at 1621 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. in Little Rock. The Arkansas Baptist College Main Building was built in 1893 to replace an earlier wood-frame structure that burned the same year. Arkansas Baptist College is a four-year, historically African-American institution of higher learning founded in 1884 by the Colored Baptists of the State of Arkansas to provide educational opportunities for African-American ministers. The Main Building is a good example of the Second Empire style with its mansard roof, gabled dormers, and paired brackets under the eaves. The building was recently restored and the bell tower rebuilt. It currently houses classrooms, administrative offices, and an auditorium.
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Dr. Albert G. McGill House |
July 6, 2012 - Dr. Albert G. McGill House
Dr. Albert G. McGill House at 2209 S. Battery St. in Little Rock. Located in the Central High School Neighborhood Historic District, the Dr. Albert G. McGill House was built about 1924 and is a good example of the Craftsman style with its exposed rafter tails, decorative beams under the eaves, casement windows, and mixed exterior materials. McGill was a physician in the McGill Clinic Building at 505 Rock Street in Little Rock.
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Gus Blass Wholesale Company Building |
August 3, 2012 - Gus Blass Wholesale Company Building
Gus Blass Wholesale Company Building at 313-315 S. Main St. in Little Rock. A contributing resource in Little Rock’s Main Street Commercial Historic District, the Gus Blass Wholesale Company Building was constructed in 1900 on the site of an earlier commercial building destroyed by fire the same year. When it was completed, the five-story Blass Wholesale Company Building was the tallest building on the block. From 1901 to 1914 the building housed Gus Blass Dry Goods and the Blass wholesale business. It was later home to a variety of interests, including Beal McConnell Dry Goods, Beal Burrow Dry Goods, Carp’s Department Store, and the Gus Blass Furniture Store. In the mid-twentieth century, the building received a modern veneer of smooth stone panels and ribbons of metal-frame, hopper windows. Restoration efforts are currently underway with plans for mixed commercial and residential space.
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J. Rogers Young House |
September 7, 2012 - J. Rogers Young House
J. Rogers Young House at 2021 S. Arch St. in Little Rock. The J. Rogers Young House is one of the few Prairie-style houses in the Governor’s Mansion Historic District. It was built about 1910 and represents a very plain example of the style with its low-pitched roof, widely overhanging eaves, and massive square porch supports. Young was a proprietor of the three-story Hotel Main, which was located at the northwest corner of Main and Markham streets in Little Rock (now the site of the Statehouse Convention Center). The Young House currently serves as a bed and breakfast.
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Fred & Lucy Alexander Schaer House |
October 5, 2012 - Fred and Lucy Alexander Schaer House
Fred and Lucy Alexander Schaer House at 13219 Hwy. 70 in North Little Rock. The Fred and Lucy Alexander Schaer House was built about 1920 on the north side of Galloway Pike (now U.S. Highway 70) facing Hill Lake. Both Fred Schaer and Lucy Alexander Schaer were prominent residents of central Arkansas. Fred was a planter in the Galloway-Scott community, and Lucy was the sister of planter James Robert Alexander, who built Land’s End Plantation south of Scott. The Schaer House is an interesting example of the Craftsman style with its massive square porch supports, exposed rafter tails, decorative beams in the side gable ends, use of mixed materials, false half-timbering in the dormer gables, and a trellised porte cochere.
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Faucette Brothers Bank Building |
November 2, 2012 - Faucette Brothers Bank Building
Faucette Brothers Bank Building at 405 Main St. in North Little Rock. Located in the Argenta Historic District, the Faucette Brothers Bank Building was constructed in 1900 by William C. Faucette and his younger brother, James P. Faucette. The Faucette brothers were prominent businessmen in Argenta and served as the first and third mayors of North Little Rock, respectively. Initially founded as Faucette Brothers Bank, the institution incorporated on April 23, 1904, as Twin City Bank. In 1904 the new City of North Little Rock was in a precarious financial situation after using its 1903 revenue to annex the 8th Ward of Little Rock (Argenta), and Twin City Bank kept the city afloat in its early years. The bank building was recently renovated and now houses the Argenta Community Theater, an event facility with a black-box theater.
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Tower Building |
December 7, 2012 - Tower Building
Tower Building at 323 Center St. in Little Rock. Completed in 1960, the Tower Building was the first skyscraper built in Arkansas after World War II and was the tallest building in the state for almost ten years. The building was the brainchild of Winthrop Rockefeller and a group of developers called the Arkansas Realty Company, who sought to usher the state into the new post-war economy. Designed by Little Rock architect Frank Eugene Withrow and Dallas architect Harold A. Berry, the Tower Building is still the best example of the International style in the capital city with its asymmetrical, unornamented façade of ribbon windows, porcelain enamel panels, and brick. Today the Tower Building remains a premier office building in downtown Little Rock.
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