Eight Arkansas properties added to the National Register of Historic Places

Concertgoers gather in the parking lot for a 1974 show at Barton Coliseum. For years, the arena at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds was the largest indoor concert venue in the state. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Old State House Museum)
Concertgoers gather in the parking lot for a 1974 show at Barton Coliseum. For years, the arena at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds was the largest indoor concert venue in the state. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Old State House Museum)

Eight Arkansas properties have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

They include two Little Rock historic districts, the Forrest City Public Library and historic downtown Winslow.

The new listings were announced Tuesday by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

The Little Rock listings include the Broadmoor neighborhood and Arkansas State Fairgrounds historic districts.

Broadmoor is a residential subdivision about 4.5 miles west of downtown Little Rock, according to the National Register nomination form. It was developed in what was then the southwestern outskirts of the city by local developer Fausett and Company beginning in 1953.

The boundary of the Broadmoor Neighborhood Historic District encompasses the three original plats for the neighborhood and 554 residential lots, in addition to a park and lake.

When developed in the 1950s, the Broadmoor houses were "outfitted with the latest in modern amenities" to appeal to middle-class homebuyers, according to the nomination.

The Broadmoor neighborhood remains "a distinguishable entity on the landscape," with 458 of its 559 buildings contributing to the National Register listing, according to the nomination.

"Non-contributing resources may exhibit material changes, additions or alterations, such as the enclosure of carports, that distract from their original design intent, but on the whole residences maintain their original scale and form reflecting the original rhythm of houses along Broadmoor's streets, even where non-contributing resources exist," according to the nomination.

The Arkansas State Fairgrounds Historic District includes Barton Coliseum and its four flanking cattle barns, all of which were designed by the Little Rock architecture firm of Erhart, Eichenbaum and Rauch and built in the late 1940s through early '50s, according to the nomination.

The historic district also includes three modern buildings constructed in the vicinity.

"The Barton Coliseum and cattle barns are all built using buff brick, giving the buildings a cohesive appearance," according to the nomination. "The cattle barns are distinguished by their monitor roofs and open sides, which allowed ventilation for the cattle that were exhibited in the buildings, while the Barton Coliseum is distinguished by its oval shape and its domed roof with monitor."

Barton Coliseum became a premiere concert venue in Little Rock. By 2012, Barton Coliseum had been the venue for more than 525 major concerts, according to the nomination.

In Northwest Arkansas, the Winslow Commercial Historic District also made the National Register list.

The district includes three buildings on North Winslow Boulevard -- Winslow City Hall, Winslow Mercantile and a building that once housed the Winslow Recreation Hall.

Two of the three commercial buildings [City Hall and the mercantile] share a dividing wall. Those two buildings were damaged by fire in 1935 and rebuilt on the original site around 1938, according to the nomination.

The other building, at 182 N. Winslow Boulevard, was originally constructed sometime before 1929 and has served various uses, including as the Winslow Recreation Hall, before being used as residential spaces today, according to the nomination.

At the time of the nomination in November, the City Hall and mercantile buildings had been closed for the previous year. The City Hall building was closed for repairs because of flood damage, according to the nomination. In the early 20th century, it housed a drugstore.

While most of the businesses in Winslow are now along U.S. 71, the old downtown along Winslow Boulevard/Arkansas 74 remains a draw.

Residents gather downtown for the weekly farmers market and kaffeeklatsch throughout the year, according to the nomination. Winslow Boulevard is also the site for the Christmas parade, mayoral proclamations and Winslow History Day.

"The movie 'Smoke in the Wind,' featuring Walter Brennan in his final role, used the Winslow Mercantile and adjacent buildings downtown as a Civil War-era backdrop in 1971," according to the nomination.

Other Arkansas properties that made the National Register list were:

• Forrest City Public Library, which was built by the Public Works Administration and completed in 1939.

• Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church in Eudora, which was built in 1922 (a fellowship hall was added in 1969).

• First Presbyterian Church in the downtown Helena part of Helena-West Helena, built around 1925.

• Presbyterian Center in Fayetteville, which was built in 1964 along the northern edge of the University of Arkansas campus.

• North Garvin Drive Historic District in Fayetteville consists of three houses on the west side of the street that were designed by architect Cyrus Sutherland and built between about 1961 and 1983.

The National Register of Historic Places is a program of the National Park Service. Listings are honorary and properties with this distinction may be eligible for grant and tax programs on the state and national level, according to a news release from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

Arkansas properties listed on the National Register, and their nomination forms, can be found at https://bit.ly/3rsjOPn.


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