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Van Buren Survey Report 03-01-20231 Van Buren Historic District Survey Report January 23, 2023 Submitted to: Travis Ratermann Dept of Arkansas Heritage 1100 North St. Little Rock, AR 72201 Executive Summary: The following Historic Resources Survey Report for the Van Buren Historic District provides a historic overview of the neighborhood and its role in the growth and development of the city of Van Buren, Arkansas. This report is provided to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) to help determine changes to its National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) listing, delineate contributing and non-contributing resources, as well as providing a list of buildings demolished, since the last survey was conducted in 2003. This survey and subsequent report were produced by Brian Minyard and Antoinette Johnson of Johnson Consulting, LLC, a historic preservation consulting firm in Little Rock, Arkansas. 2 Table of Contents: Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Survey Methodology ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 Brief Historic Overview ..............................................................................................................................................4-6 Overview of Historic Structure Types ...................................................................................................................... 6 Table of Properties including addresses, resource numbers, date of construction ..........................7-9 Table of Demolished Buildings ................................................................................................................................ 10 Map of Boundaries ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 Streetscape Photos ................................................................................................................................................. 12-15 Appendix .................................................................................................................................................................... 16-22 3 Survey Methodology: With funding from a National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund grant administered by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s Certified Local Government program, the City of Van Buren commissioned the re-evaluation of the buildings and structures located within the Van Buren Historic District. Project Meetings Communications between Johnson Consulting, LLC and the City of Van Buren were conducted through email, phone calls, and one Van Buren Historic District Commission Meeting. An initial email from Jennifer Willoughby, from the City of Van Buren, to Antoinette Johnson, was sent on July 7, 2022 notifying Johnson Consulting, LLC the City would like to begin contract negotiations to complete the historic survey work. A contract was signed July 22, 2022. A refresher training course took place at the AHPP offices with Travis Ratermann, of AHPP, on September 6, 2022. Brian Minyard and Antoinette Johnson, of Johnson Consulting, LLC attended and reported on the progress of the project to the Van Buren Historic District Commission on October 13, 2022. Email updates were sent to Jennifer Willoughby and Wally Bailey providing updates at milestones in the project. Field investigations were conducted between October 10, 2022 and October 16, 2022 in downtown Van Buren. The existing condition of each resource was re-evaluated and documented using digitized AHPP survey forms and digital photography. The following steps were taken to record the current condition of the subject resources: • Document the major physical attributes and character-defining features of the subject resources • Document condition of physical character-defining features and other associative qualities. • Perform detailed photographic documentation. All files saved in Tag Image File Format (Tiff). • Maintain clear field notes, sketches and field maps for use in the analysis of the fieldwork of the subject sites, noting building/structure locations, distinctive landscape features and other relevant non-archaeological resources. Research Methods To prepare the brief historic overview and in order to place each subject resource within appropriate historic context, archival research was conducted from September 8, 2022-January 2023. Research sources included: Census Records; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps; the Van Buren Historic District National Register Nomination (1976); Encyclopedia of Arkansas articles; Headlight Flashes articles on historic businesses and businessmen (1898); History of Crawford County, Arkansas (2001) compiled by Eula Hopkins and Wanda M. Gray of the Arkansas History Commission; Van Buren: Queen City of the Arkansas. History of the City of Van Buren, Arkansas in Chronological Form (1818-1920) by Clovis E. Miller (1992); the Social Security Death Index and Crawford County Tax Assessor Records; and the Van Buren, Arkansas Historic Preservation Plan 2009 by Thomason & Associates. The author is especially grateful to Emilee Morrison whose assistance in the Alma Genealogy Archives was extremely helpful in finding historic articles and primary sources of information. 4 Brief Historic Overview: The city of Van Buren’s development began as a small settlement in a secluded woodyard on the North bank of the Arkansas River. It was at the edge of America’s frontier and near the division line between the Cherokee and Osage lands. Native Americans and other travelers migrated along a trail from it to the area that would eventually become Main Street, to exchange their bounty for needed goods. As in most early communities, businesses were first established along the river bank to take advantage of steamboat traffic. It became noticed by white men after President Thomas Jefferson’s acquisition of it as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson and his successors sent expeditions up the rivers and into the West. The first person of European descent to settle in the area is thought to be a squatter named Thomas Martin. Oral history concludes that he arrived before 1818 and built the first cabin at the settlement. However, Van Buren was officially founded in the late 1820’s by James Phillips and his two sons, Thomas and David. There are conflicting accounts of how the Phillips’ acquired the land. One version claims that the Phillips brothers stated, under oath, that they bought the Improvement Right (method of obtaining a Land Patent (deed) from the US Government) from Martin in 1830. Another account claims James was awarded the woodyard site by squatter’s bounty, as a payment for his service in the Revolutionary War. They named the site “Phillips Landing” and over the next few decades it became a port, trading center, and the home to the future town’s earliest businesses. The name Phillips Landing changed to Van Buren when the community was granted a post office in 1831, which was named after the secretary of state (and later president), Martin Van Buren. Thomas Phillips served as the first postmaster. At this time, the community was simply a landing on the river for the back country, with two small stores, and about a dozen inhabitants. John Drennen and his brother-in-law, David Thompson, ran a ferry service just south of Van Buren and bought the Phillips Site from Thomas and David Phillips in 1836. Drennen was appointed post master at this time. In 1838, Van Buren became Crawford County’s seat and a courthouse was built on land donated by Drennen. The town was incorporated around 1845. Commercial business grew to include a storage warehouse, a flourmill, and a mineral bathhouse. The city constructed a wood and rock wharf to promote shipping and trade within the community and the telegraph and stagecoach service included Crawford County by the late 1850s. In 1849 alone, the California Goldrush doubled the size of the town and around 3,000 emigrants passed through. During this boom, the population of the town quickly diversified. By the 1850s the town was prospering. Steamboat commerce was exceptional and trade routes from all directions had been established: even as far south as Mexico and west as San Francisco. The transcontinental stage line ran through town and engineering studies expected that the main highway of North America should come through Van Buren, where all forms of transportation would converge at a trade center. The Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad was organized in 1853, with John Drennen serving as its first president. 5 Slavery was common in Crawford County. By 1840, enslaved people comprised 14 percent of the county’s 4,266 residents. When the Civil War began in 1860, Arkansas joined the Confederates. The Union Army reached the Arkansas River at Van Buren on December 28, 1862 and took the wharf; destroying the local printing press, courthouse records, burning several steamboats and a ferry, 15,000 bushels of corn, and a cotton factory and taking around 100 prisoners. Union troops occupied the town for about a year and a half. After the war, many of Van Buren’s affluent citizens were financially ruined. But during the years of Reconstruction, public and private entities invested in rebuilding the Van Buren and prosperity returned. The city began construction of its sewer system and free public schools were organized. The long-awaited Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad freight service finally began in 1876. By 1882, the St. Louis and San Francisco began a passenger railroad route connecting Van Buren to Fayetteville and Rogers. In the early 1900s, the Van Buren-Fort Smith Free Bridge, the first bridge to connect the two cities across the Arkansas River, was constructed. By the 1890s Van Buren had established banks, realtors, lawyers, photographers, a variety of other businesses, public schools, a public water system, an ice and coal company, and an electrical power plant. In the early 1900s, a Union Depot for both railroads was located at the crossing of the two tracks. Then the Frisco built a freight depot at the upper end of Main Street, just east of the Frisco Passenger Depot which had been built in 1901. The establishment of train services greatly helped to further business and cultural development in the area. The 1920s and 1930s were hard on Van Buren. A flood devastated Van Buren’s business district in 1927. It destroyed businesses and their contents, as well as railroad infrastructure. The Great Depression slowed business and particularly took its toll on the lumber and agricultural industries. Many residents migrated to California to find work. Roosevelts’ Works Progress Administration (WPA), employed 260 people in and around nearby Lock and Mountainburg. During this time, tourism became a social and economic boom and automobile ownership increased. About 2,839 soldiers from Crawford County deployed during World War II, further diminishing the local population. In 1941, a USO (United Service Organizations) center was established downtown. A thirty-five acre military railway base was operating on the east side of town in 1942. In 1943, the Missouri Pacific Railroad formed a Negro Women’s Labor Battalion. All of these efforts helped to keep downtown businesses afloat. After World War II, industry became Van Buren’s leading business and encouraged development along the railways, waterways and roadways. Flood control and cheaper transportation along the Arkansas River developed with the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System authorized in 1946 and finally opened in 1971. Privately owned farms switched to corporate farming and local manufacturing and processing shifted to national and international operations. The mid to the end of the 20th-century saw the development of Arkansas’ first port authority, Interstate 540, a promotional downtown merchant’s association, and a water supply project. From 1970 to 2000, the county population more than doubled. In 1976, the City Council appointed a Historic District Commission and nominated the Van Buren Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places. A Local Historic District Ordinance was passed in 1977 to ensure the buildings were preserved and rehabilitated according to the National Park Service’s standards. The city developed a program of matching grants for facade restorations on buildings in the district. It then developed the 1978 Restoration and Redevelopment Plan with the hope of reversing the decline of downtown. 6 Today tourism is important to the downtown community and relies on the city’s historic resources. The Van Buren Historic District along Main Street is an important component of this and draws many local and out of town visitors. Overview of Historic Structure Types: Currently, eighty-five (85) structures and one (1) monument, along seven blocks of Main Street, are included in the historic district. This area was the center of commerce and government in the nineteenth century. The structures date from 1860 to 2020, with the exception of the Albert Pike School House (c. 1820) which was moved from outside the district to its current location in 1974. It includes the oldest intact commercial area in the city of Van Buren, Arkansas. This section of town experienced continued development over a sixty five-year period, from 1870-1935. The styles of buildings constructed during this time define its architectural character and period of historical significance. The neighborhood has remained popular throughout most of its history, except a lapse from the mid-1930s to the late 20th Century. However; today, the buildings in this area are highly sought-after and remodeling continues. Approximately 62% of the buildings in the Van Buren Main Street Historic District were constructed during the years between 1880 and 1910, with the heaviest concentration built at this time. In this era, Standard Commercial 19th and 20th Century Style buildings were prevalent. In the 1930s, a few larger industrial-type Standard Commercial 20th Century Style buildings were constructed on the far east side of the district. A couple of infill buildings were built in the 500 block of Main Street in 1950. From 1951-1988 no new buildings were built. In the late 1980s and early 1990s several public buildings were constructed on the eastern portion of the district; also, the district’s first pocket park was built further up Main Street. During the early 2000s, a few buildings were combined or added onto to make larger buildings and some new infill buildings were constructed along Main Street. Also at this time, the district’s second pocket park was built. Of the 85 properties within the historic district boundary, ___% contribute to the area’s historic significance. ___% of the 85 properties were built within the period of significance but have been altered from their historic appearance. ___% were built outside of the district’s period of significance. Individually Listed Properties Include: • CW0165S, Van Buren Confederate Monument, located on the Crawford County Courthouse Grounds at 300 Main St., d. 1899 7 8 9 10 12 Streetscapes: At the 300 block of Main Street, mid-block, looking north. At 4th and Main Streets looking north. 13 At the 400 block of Main Street, mid-block, looking north. At 4th and Main Streets looking west. 14 At 5th and Main Streets looking north. At 6th and Main Streets looking north. 15 At 7th and Main Streets looking east. Looking south mid-block of the 800 block of Main Street. 16 Appendix: Because the Period of Significance in the 1976 National Register Nomination is likely to be changed when an updated version of the Van Buren Historic District National Register Nomination is completed, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program has requested two versions of preliminary Period of Significance charts be added to this report. AHPP has stated likely Periods of Significance will end in 1910 or 1940. Therefore, these two charts have been added and a survey report with blank C/NC percentages has been submitted. The charts and percentages can be finalized after AHPP has determined the dates of Van Buren’s Historic District’s POS. 17 Van Buren Historic District POS: 1910 Resource # Address Historic Name C/NC CW0001 826 Main Street Building at 826 Main Street NC CW0002 824 Main Street Building at 824 Main Street C CW0003 822 Main Street Barber Shop Building C CW0004 820 Main Street Building at 820 Main Street C CW0005 818 Main Street Building at 818 Main Street C CW0006 816 Main Street Arkansas Grocery Store C CW0007 812 & 814 Main Street Linck's Building C CW0010 804 & 806 Main Street Simco Saloon Building C CW0011 802 Main Street Brisco Grocery Store C CW0012 800 Main Street Gooding & Butler General Store C CW0013 813 Main Street Frisco Railroad Depot C CW0014 722 &724 Main Street General Store Building C CW0015 720 Main Street 718 &720 Main Street Building NC CW0018 710 & 712 Main Street Gelly Drug Store C CW0019 708 Main Street Shipley- Heard & Co Dry Goods NC CW0020 704 Main Street Twin City Hardware & Furniture NC CW0021 700 Main Street First National Bank Building NC CW0022 7 & 9 South 7th Street South 7th Street Building NC CW0023 721 & 723 Main Street American Railway Express Co. C CW0024 719 Main Street Racket Store Building NC CW0025 715 & 717 Main Street Pernot Queensware Store C CW0026 713 Main Street HC Johnson Drugstore C CW0027 711 Main Street Free & Accepted Masons & Knights of Pythias Hall Building C CW0028 703 Main Street Building 703 Main Street C CW0029 701 Main Street Southmayd- Miller Dry Goods C CW0031 624 Main Street Citizens Bank & Trust #2 C CW0032 10 South 7th Street 7th Street Building NC CW0033 620 A & B Main Street O'Kane Stationers & Shipley Jewelry C 18 Van Buren Historic District POS: 1910 CW0034 618 Main Street Pape & Son Dry Goods Store C CW0035 616 Main Street Van Buren Hardware Co Building C CW0036 614 Main Street Faber Grocery Store Building C CW0037 612 Main Street Boston Store Building C CW0038 610 Main Street Edmondson & Britt Grocers C CW0039 606 Main Street 606 Main Street Building C CW0040 600 Main Street Anheuser-Busch Building C CW0041 633 Main Street Crawford County Bank Building C CW0042 10 North 7th Street Warehouse Building C CW0043 627 Main Street Citizens Bank & Trust #1 C CW0044 617, 619, & 621 Main Street Meier Drug Store NC CW0045 615A & 615B Main Street New York Store/Star House C CW0046 609 & 611 Main Street Ockers Funeral House NC CW0047 605 & 607 Main Street George Miller Confectionery NC CW0048 601 & 603 Main Street F.G. Kerr Drug Store Building C CW0050 520 & 522 Main Street Bryan Grocery & Barber Shop NC CW0051 6 6th Street Storage Building NC CW0052 8-10 South 6th Street M7Studio Guitar Piano Lessons NC CW0053 516 & 518 Main Street Barber Shop Building NC CW0054 514 Main Street Merrill Meat Market #3 C CW0055 512 Main Street Merrill Meat Market #2 NC CW0056 510 Main Street Merrill Meat Market #1 NC CW0057 506 Main Street Building at 506 Main Street C CW0058 502 & 504 Main Street Climer Barbershop C CW0059 500 Main Street Post Office#4 C CW0060 11 South 5th Street Office Building C CW0061 13 South 5th Street South 5th Street Building NC CW0062 517 & 521 Main Street Wells Fargo Express Office NC CW0063 513 & 515 Main Street Building at 513 & 515 Main Street NC CW0064 509 & 511 Main Street Ingeberg Books and Stationery C 19 Van Buren Historic District POS: 1910 CW0065 507 Main Street Bennett Watchmaker Building NC CW0066 505 Main Street Post Office #1 NC CW0067 503 Main Street Building at 503 Main Street NC CW0068 501 Main Street US Post Office #2 NC CW0072 424 Main Street Jarvis Grocery Store NC CW0073 418 Main Street Building at 418 Main Street C CW0074 416 Main Street Building at 416 Main Street C CW0075 414 Main Street Building at 414 Main Street C CW0076 412 Main Street Tailor's Building C CW0077 410 Main Street McCullough & Sons Wallpaper Store NC CW0078 402 Main Street Rhodes Chevrolet Building NC CW0079 427 Main Street King Opera House C CW0080 415 Main Street Farmers House Hotel NC CW0081 413 Main Street Post Office #3 NC CW0082 411 Main Street Fire Department Building C CW0083 409 Main Street Water Department Building NC CW0088 300 Main Street Crawford County Courthouse C CW0089 300 Main Street County Jail Building C CW0090 300 Main Street Alert Pike School House NC CW0095 213 Main Street Building at 213 Main Street C CW0165S 300 Main Street Van Buren Confederate Monument IL CW0305 Riverfront Park Riverfront Park Restroom NC CW0565 221 Main Street Arkansas State Revenue Office NC CW0566 317 Main Street Crawford County Circuit Clerk Building NC CW0567 714 & 716 Main Street Blanche Moore Park & Public Restroom NC CW0568 808 Main Street 100 Families NC CW0569 810 Main Street Pasta's Restaurant NC CW0570 830 Main Street Veteran's Memorial Plaza NC Total: 86 C: 47 (54.7%) NC: 38 (44.1%) L:1 (1.2%) 20 Van Buren Historic District POS: 1940 Resource # Address Historic Name C/NC CW0001 826 Main Street Building at 826 Main Street C CW0002 824 Main Street Building at 824 Main Street C CW0003 822 Main Street Barber Shop Building C CW0004 820 Main Street Building at 820 Main Street C CW0005 818 Main Street Building at 818 Main Street C CW0006 816 Main Street Arkansas Grocery Store C CW0007 812 & 814 Main Street Linck's Building C CW0010 804 & 806 Main Street Simco Saloon Building C CW0011 802 Main Street Brisco Grocery Store C CW0012 800 Main Street Gooding & Butler General Store C CW0013 813 Main Street Frisco Railroad Depot C CW0014 722 &724 Main Street General Store Building C CW0015 720 Main Street 718 &720 Main Street Building NC CW0018 710 & 712 Main Street Gelly Drug Store C CW0019 708 Main Street Shipley- Heard & Co Dry Goods C CW0020 704 Main Street Twin City Hardware & Furniture C CW0021 700 Main Street First National Bank Building NC CW0022 7 & 9 South 7th Street South 7th Street Building C CW0023 721 & 723 Main Street American Railway Express Co. C CW0024 719 Main Street Racket Store Building NC CW0025 715 & 717 Main Street Pernot Queensware Store C CW0026 713 Main Street HC Johnson Drugstore C CW0027 711 Main Street Free & Accepted Masons & Knights of Pythias Hall Building C CW0028 703 Main Street Building 703 Main Street C CW0029 701 Main Street Southmayd- Miller Dry Goods C CW0031 624 Main Street Citizens Bank & Trust #2 C CW0032 10 South 7th Street 7th Street Building NC CW0033 620 A & B Main Street O'Kane Stationers & Shipley Jewelry C 21 Van Buren Historic District POS: 1940 CW0034 618 Main Street Pape & Son Dry Goods Store C CW0035 616 Main Street Van Buren Hardware Co Building C CW0036 614 Main Street Faber Grocery Store Building C CW0037 612 Main Street Boston Store Building C CW0038 610 Main Street Edmondson & Britt Grocers C CW0039 606 Main Street 606 Main Street Building C CW0040 600 Main Street Anheuser-Busch Building C CW0041 633 Main Street Crawford County Bank Building C CW0042 10 North 7th Street Warehouse Building C CW0043 627 Main Street Citizens Bank & Trust #1 C CW0044 617, 619, & 621 Main Street Meier Drug Store NC CW0045 615A & 615B Main Street New York Store/Star House C CW0046 609 & 611 Main Street Ockers Funeral House NC CW0047 605 & 607 Main Street George Miller Confectionery C CW0048 601 & 603 Main Street F.G. Kerr Drug Store Building C CW0050 520 & 522 Main Street Bryan Grocery & Barber Shop NC CW0051 6 6th Street Storage Building NC CW0052 8-10 South 6th Street M7Studio Guitar Piano Lessons NC CW0053 516 & 518 Main Street Barber Shop Building NC CW0054 514 Main Street Merrill Meat Market #3 C CW0055 512 Main Street Merrill Meat Market #2 NC CW0056 510 Main Street Merrill Meat Market #1 NC CW0057 506 Main Street Building at 506 Main Street C CW0058 502 & 504 Main Street Climer Barbershop C CW0059 500 Main Street Post Office#4 C CW0060 11 South 5th Street Office Building C CW0061 13 South 5th Street South 5th Street Building C CW0062 517 & 521 Main Street Wells Fargo Express Office NC CW0063 513 & 515 Main Street Building at 513 & 515 Main Street NC CW0064 509 & 511 Main Street Ingeberg Books and Stationery C 22 Van Buren Historic District POS: 1940 CW0065 507 Main Street Bennett Watchmaker Building NC CW0066 505 Main Street Post Office #1 NC CW0067 503 Main Street Building at 503 Main Street NC CW0068 501 Main Street US Post Office #2 NC CW0072 424 Main Street Jarvis Grocery Store C CW0073 418 Main Street Building at 418 Main Street C CW0074 416 Main Street Building at 416 Main Street C CW0075 414 Main Street Building at 414 Main Street C CW0076 412 Main Street Tailor's Building C CW0077 410 Main Street McCullough & Sons Wallpaper Store NC CW0078 402 Main Street Rhodes Chevrolet Building C CW0079 427 Main Street King Opera House C CW0080 415 Main Street Farmers House Hotel NC CW0081 413 Main Street Post Office #3 NC CW0082 411 Main Street Fire Department Building C CW0083 409 Main Street Water Department Building NC CW0088 300 Main Street Crawford County Courthouse C CW0089 300 Main Street County Jail Building C CW0090 300 Main Street Alert Pike School House NC CW0095 213 Main Street Building at 213 Main Street C CW0165S 300 Main Street Van Buren Confederate Monument IL CW0305 Riverfront Park Riverfront Park Restroom NC CW0565 221 Main Street Arkansas State Revenue Office NC CW0566 317 Main Street Crawford County Circuit Clerk Building NC CW0567 714 & 716 Main Street Blanche Moore Park & Public Restroom NC CW0568 808 Main Street 100 Families NC CW0569 810 Main Street Pasta's Restaurant NC CW0570 830 Main Street Veteran's Memorial Plaza NC Total: 86 C: 55 (63.9%) NC: 30 (34.9%) L:1 (1.2%)