State Buildings In Arkansas

To the present generation of Arkansans the capitol building in Little Rock is what most capitol buildings are supposed to be; the symbol of state government, the repository of political and legal administration, the seat at civil authority. The building has the appearance of many other state capitols in America. Colossal in size and yet trim in its lines, it overlooks the city in all directions. Its beautiful, well-kept grounds are the pride of Arkansas, while the historical markers that stand on the front lawn remind us of her people's sentiment for the state's history. But the Arkansas State Capitol has a history at its own, a history that cannot be written in terms of architectural design, of tons of concrete poured, or of setting stone upon stones. Rather its history was written against the flamboyant and often ruthless tide of Southern politics characterizing the first two decades of the twentieth century. Its story can but be told in terms of personalities, of ambitions, of politics, and of graft and corruption is an age dominated by such colorful political figures as Daniel Jones, Jeff Davis, George Donaghey, and Joe T. Robinson.

From Fayetteville, Little Rock, and Hot Springs to Jonesboro, El Dorado, Arkadelphia, Texarkana, and scores of places in between, the latest volume in the Buildings of the United States series provides the most comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date guide to the architecture of Arkansas. The result of a lifetime's research and fieldwork by the esteemed historian and preservationist Cyrus A. Sutherland, this book captures the range and richness of the state's buildings and landscapes, whose stories can prove as fascinating and gripping as a novel's plotline. Nearly 500 building entries, accompanied by 250 illustrations and 24 maps, encompass the state's major regions--the Ozark Plateau, the Arkansas River Valley, the Ouachita Mountains, the West Gulf Coastal Plain, and the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (commonly known as the Delta). The places canvassed include everything from works by Arkansas natives E. Fay Jones and Edward Durell Stone to Sam Walton's Five-and-Ten and Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to Bill Clinton's birthplace and presidential library. The volume highlights the role and resilience of mountain, valley, and Mississippi River communities; surveys significant state and national parks; and traces the lively history of such resorts as Hot Springs and Eureka Springs. Along the way, it offers compelling accounts of sites from the well to the lesser known--the magnificent Toltec Mounds near Scott, the New Deal-era Dyess Colony, Tyronza's Southern Tenant Farmers Museum, the Rohwer Relocation Center and McGehee Japanese American Internment Museum, Central High School in Little Rock--and considers modern buildings that herald a renaissance in the state's cultural, economic, and political history.

Arkansas's Old State House, arguably the most famous building in the state, was conceived during the territorial period and has served through statehood. A History of Arkansas's Old State House traces the history of the architecture and purposes of the remarkable building. The history begins with Gov. John Pope's ideas for a symbolic state house for Arkansas and continues through the construction years and an expansion in 1885. After years of deterioration, the building was abandoned by the state government, and the Old State House then became a medical school and office building. Kwas traces the subsequent fight for the building's preservation on to its use today as a popular museum of Arkansas history and culture. Brief biographies of secretaries of state, preservationists, caretakers, and others are included, and the book is generously illustrated with early and seldom-seen photographs, drawings, and memorabilia.

Series statement from publisher's website.