All Around Arkansas: Benton's Royal Theatre

 

Benton is full of historic structures. There’s the Saline County Courthouse built in 1901, the former office building of Drs. Dewell Gann Sr. and his son Dewell Jr. (now the Gann Museum of Saline Co. History) built in 1893 and the John Shoppach House built in 1852. 

But one building truly stands out as a landmark of a simpler time in Saline’s county seat — the Royal Theatre. With its iconic neon sign and marquee and unique Moderne architecture, the old theater reminds passers-by on a daily basis of the good ol' days.

The theater is located at 111 S. Market St. in the downtown historic district. The Royal Theatre of today is actually part of the massive renovation of an earlier theater, the IMP (Independent Motion Pictures) Theatre, built in 1920. Alice Wooten, the original owner, sold the property to Wallace Kauffman in 1922. Several generations of the Kauffman Family owned the Royal throughout the years. 

From 1948-49, Little Rock architects Frank Ginocchio and Edwin B. Cromwell redesigned the theater. The pair named the renovated theater the Royal after a Little Rock theater they designed several years earlier. The architects repurposed the neon sign and marquee from the Little Rock theater, which had since closed, for the Royal's renovation.

In 1996, actor Jerry Van Dyke (best known for his role as Luther in the ABC comedy “Coach” and as a co-star on his brother’s successful “Dick Van Dyke Show”) purchased the Royal Theatre from the last of the Kauffman family to own it, Randy Kauffman. Van Dyke completely renovated the theater and much of the surrounding block. He also opened the Jerry Van Dyke Soda Shoppe, a candy store, a baseball card store and an antique store in the downtown historic district. The Royal Theatre continued to show moves until 2000. 

Van Dyke sold the theater and the rest of his businesses in Benton between 2000-2001. The Royal Theatre was donated to the Central Arkansas Community Players, which subsequently changed its name to the Royal Players and continues to perform on its stage. Van Dyke died at his ranch in Hot Spring County in January 2018.

The Royal no longer shows movies — the silver screens were removed and the projectors were sold before the transfer to its current owners. Thanks to community support from businesses and residents, the Royal Players worked hard to preserve the theater. Many of its original fixtures are still visible and a doorless safe with IMP embossed on it remains in an upstairs office.

The Royal Theatre was added to the U.S Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places in September 2003. The designation allows the Royal Players to apply for historic preservation grants and low-interest loans to help maintain the building for the citizens of Saline County for years to come.

Unfortunately, not being a Benton native, I never had the opportunity to visit the theater and catch a flick during its heyday. But my wife's law office is just next door, and every time I walk past the Royal I swear I can smell the scent of buttery popcorn. I look at the spaces where movie posters once hung and wonder what it was like in the good ol' days.

A sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He served several years with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, and worked in all three divisions. He lives in Saline County with his wife, Amy, and two beloved Boston Terriers. You can find him on Facebook and Instagram at AllAroundArkansas.

All Around Arkansas: The Roundtop Filling Station

 

            There are so many places and buildings in the Natural State that are near to my heart. I’ve always loved the Arkansas State Capitol, the Old State House, Ray Winder Field (which I’ll cover in a future column), Pinnacle Mountain State Park and several others. But there is no building in Arkansas more special to me than the one-of-a-kind old gas station at the southern edge of my hometown of Sherwood — the Roundtop Filling Station.

             The Roundtop Filling Station on US Highway 67 — in what was then North Little Rock — was built in 1936 for the Pierce Oil Co. by the Justin Matthews Co. It is believed the structure was designed by Matthews’s company architect, Frank Carmean. Pierce wanted a station that would attract the attention of passing motorists, so Carmean came up with a design that included a conical-shaped roof with bright red shingles and a weather vane. Throughout the years, many people have described the Roundtop as something out of a fairy tale due to its unique appearance.

             Wallace “Happy” Williford, a senior at Jacksonville High School and employee at another Pierce-owned station in Jacksonville, was asked by the company to operate the new service station. Because he was still a student, Williford paid men to operate the station for him during school hours. He said it was hard to find men who would work for only $3.50 a week.

             For rent, Pierce charged Williford 2 cents per gallon of gas sold. At first, the station had no electric gas pumps, and Williford and his employees had to hand-pump the gas. By 1957, Williford had saved enough money to buy the station for $8,000.

             According to one of Williford’s daughters, her dad would tell stories of how several rockabilly stars would often visit the Roundtop while traveling Highway 67, including Arkansans Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty (who at the time went by his birth name Harold Jenkins) and Sonny Burgess and the Pacers. Williford also said the filling station was a popular hangout for prominent Arkansas politicians such as Arkansas governors Sid McMath and Orval Faubus. The Roundtop was also famous for being the only gas station between Little Rock and St. Louis to have free public restrooms.

             The Roundtop sported many brands throughout its life. It became a Sinclair station around 1940 after the Sinclair Oil Co. bought Pierce Oil. In the early 1950s, Sinclair sold many of its Arkansas stations, including the Roundtop, to the Phillips Petroleum Co., and the station became a Phillips 66-branded station. In the 1970s, it became a DX-branded station and eventually closed in 1981.

             In 1989, Williford put the Roundup up for auction. The winning bidder was North Little Rock businessman George Brown, who planned to renovate the dilapidated building. But Brown died before work began, and in 1999, his heirs donated the station to the city of Sherwood, which had annexed the area in 1975.

             For years, the landmark sat abandoned and was the victim of vandalism and theft. The structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, and in 2010, the Roundtop was featured in “The Last Ride,” a film about the last days of Hank Williams Sr.

             In May 2013, Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas named the Roundtop an endangered historic structure. Soon afterward, Sherwood Mayor Virginia Young asked yours truly to lead an effort to save the building.

             In June 2013, Sherwood received a $50,000 historic preservation grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) for the Roundtop's rehabilitation. Private donors and the city provided the matching money for the grant. Taggart Architects of North Little Rock prepared plans for the building’s rehabilitation and PDC Construction of Little Rock was hired as the general contractor.

             The first phase of the project began in April 2014 and consisted of securing and stabilizing the building; replacing almost all the building's studs, which had been damaged by termites; replacing the concrete floors; and installing a new roof. In July 2014, the AHPP awarded the city a second grant of $78,000 to complete the rehabilitation.

             In November 2014, a fire damaged the building’s exterior. The second phase of the project was completed the following January, and the old filling station is now used by the Sherwood Police Department as its Southside Substation. The station’s interior is decorated with antique soda and oil advertising signs and other memorabilia donated by my father, Floyd E. Brown.

             Should you ever want to experience a bit of nostalgia, put on your Johnny Cash playlist and take a drive to the end of Trammel Road in Sherwood. Fortunately, while the gas pumps and low prices are long gone, the many memories of a simpler time remain.

             A proud sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He served several years with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, and worked in all three divisions. He lives in Saline County with his wife, Amy, and two beloved Boston Terriers. Find him on Facebook and Instagram at AllAroundArkansas.