WALKS THROUGH HISTORY SCHEDULE

The "Walks Through History" program is a series of monthly outdoor walking tours that seeks to familiarize people who live and work in communities outside of central Arkansas with the historic structures and sites around them. Presented by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, the tours begin at 11 a.m. on Saturdays, and last between one and two hours. An AHPP staff historian leads the tour, delivering a brief lecture about the properties visited and their history.

View Archived Walks Through History Tour Scripts

Rector Commercial Historic District

August 14 - Rector Commercial Historic District

August 14, 2010: Rector Commercial Historic District. The northeast Arkansas town of Rector was platted in 1882 along the St. Louis and Texas Railroad. Rector grew rapidly as a result of the railroad, the timber industry, and later, cotton. The buildings in downtown Rector retain much of their historic integrity, including several with cast iron storefronts. These storefronts were manufactured by the Mesker Brothers Company of St. Louis beginning in 1879. The tour group will meet in Rector Downtown Central Park at the intersection of S. Main and Front streets. Co-sponsored by Rector Downtown Central.

Arkansas County Courthouse, Southern District

September 18 - DeWitt Commercial Historic District

September 18, 2010: DeWitt Commercial Historic District. DeWitt, one of two county seats in the state’s first county, Arkansas County, grew slowly until 1891, when a spur of the St. Louis and Southwest Railroad extended its tracks through the town. The railroad provided transportation for prairie-grown hay, livestock, timber, cotton, and later, rice. The district’s collection of early twentieth century commercial-style buildings reflects DeWitt’s role as a center of commerce in Arkansas County. The tour group will meet in front of the 1931 Art Deco-style Arkansas County Courthouse on DeWitt’s Court Square. Co-sponsored by the Grand Prairie Historical Society.

Calhoun County Courthouse

October 9 - Historic Hampton

October 9, 2010: Historic Hampton. The timber industry has always been important in Hampton, harvesting Calhoun County’s extensive forests of short leaf yellow pine, cypress, oak, red gum, and hickory. Although the completion of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad through northern Calhoun County in 1883 lessened Hampton’s commercial importance, the county seat grew steadily. Because of its location along the main thoroughfare between Little Rock and El Dorado, the town remains an important asset for the surrounding county. Of particular interest is the National Register-listed Hampton Cemetery, which includes the graves of survivors of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The tour group will meet in front of the Calhoun County Courthouse. Co-sponsored by the Hampton Cemetery Committee.

Shaheen-Goodfellow Weekend Cottage

November 13 - Shaheen-Goodfellow Weekend Cottage or "Stoneflower"

November 13, 2010: Shaheen-Goodfellow Weekend Cottage, or “Stoneflower,” at 704 Stony Ridge Rd. on Eden Isle (near Heber Springs in Cleburne County). “Stoneflower” was designed by one of Arkansas’s most celebrated architects, E. Fay Jones. Completed in 1965 on a lot overlooking Greers Ferry Lake, this house foreshadowed Jones’s design for the building that would bring him international acclaim—Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs. “Stoneflower” is exactly half the size of Thorncrown Chapel and utilizes the same elaborate succession of 2’ x 4’ cross braces to support the upper story’s tall walls and high ceiling. Intimately integrated with its environment, “Stoneflower” exhibits the principles of organic architecture followed by Jones throughout his career. Co-sponsored by the Cleburne County Historical Society.

Poinsett County Courthouse

December 11 - Harrisburg Commercial Historic District

December 11, 2010: Harrisburg Commercial Historic District. Harrisburg, the Poinsett County seat, prospered when the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad was completed through the town in 1882. The railroad provided transportation for timber and later, cotton and rice. The historic commercial buildings on Harrisburg’s courthouse square date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and reflect the town’s greatest period of growth. The tour group will meet in front of the Poinsett County Courthouse. Co-sponsored by the Sunken Lands Regional Chamber of Commerce.