All Around Arkansas: Christmas at the Capitol

 

            In last week’s column I wrote about one of the holiday traditions now popular in the Natural State—visiting the amazing light display at Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hot Springs. This week, I wanted to write about another Arkansas holiday tradition that’s been in my family since I was a child — visiting the state Capitol in Little Rock to see the spectacular outdoor light display and beautiful decorations.

According to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office, the Capitol was first lit in 1939 by then-Secretary of State Crip Hall. A patient at nearby Childrens’ Hospital wrote to Hall asking him to illuminate the Capitol so he could see the lights from his room. Hall honored the boy’s request and had a staff electrician rig strips of lights on metal that were then hung from the building’s cupola. About 1,000 red and blue bulbs lit up the capitol dome. In 1940, the Capitol’s Christmas lights were changed to all blue bulbs and loudspeakers were set up in the rotunda to play Christmas music.

The following year, a life size nativity scene was set up at the front entrance of the Capitol. The lights were illuminated on Dec. 10. Just a few days earlier, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, marking the United States’ entry into World War II. When asked by local reporters whether it was appropriate to decorate the Capitol in the wake of such an event, Hall said that in “such unusual times, the people of Arkansas needed to have a little reassuring normalness.”

In 1942, as the war was in full swing, the lighting became a little more subdued with only colored flood lights on the dome. The nativity scene also took on a new look, featuring non-traditional figures such as a soldier, a sailor, a Marine and a Red Cross nurse standing guard over Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

The following year would mark the first time the exterior of the state Capitol was not lit since 1939. But some holiday decor remained; a 16-foot fir Christmas tree, sent by Arizona Gov. Sidney Osborne, was placed in the ground floor rotunda.

All holiday décor returned to the Capitol after the war’s end in 1945. The dome was lit up, a live tree was set up in the rotunda and the nativity scene returned with the original figures. This would set the foundation for holiday celebrations at the state Capitol for decades to come. Unfortunately, in 1973, due to the worldwide energy crisis, the Capitol was not decorated. Thankfully, the lights returned to the building the following year.

From 1995 to 2002, the state Capitol grounds were decorated by local businessman Jennings Osborne, who was well known in central Arkansas for the massive light display at his home on Cantrell Road in Little Rock. Osborne, a close friend of then-Gov. Mike Huckabee, provided millions of twinkling white lights to the state free of charge. The lights on the Capitol dome were in constant motion, which gave the structure the nickname, “the Disco Dome.” In 2006, the tree from the rotunda was moved after an extra-large tree knocked out parts of the Capitol’s second floor marble railing. An artificial tree was substituted because of the fire hazards of a live tree, but a live tree returned in 2012.

The state Capitol lights and decorations are unveiled at a public lighting ceremony, which are accompanied by fireworks and a visit from Santa Claus, on the first Saturday in December. Throughout the holiday season, the state Capitol is open from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. weeknights and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. These times are in effect until Jan. 2, when normal operating hours resume. The state Capitol is closed Christmas Day.

            I wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

            A proud sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He lives in Saline County with his wife, Amy, and their beloved Boston Terrier, Dixie. Find him on Facebook and Instagram at AllAroundArkansas.

All Around Arkansas: Garvan Woodland Gardens

 

  

                Throughout the past several years, one of the great Arkansas holiday traditions has been to make the annual pilgrimage to see the thousands of Christmas lights on display at Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hot Springs.        

            Though the line is often extremely long just to get to the parking lot — and almost just as long to get inside the venue — thousands of Arkansans brave the traffic to see spectacular decorations that would put even the most crotchety Scrooge into the Christmas spirit.

            Located along Lake Hamilton, the land now known as Garvan Woodland Gardens was bought by Malvern businessman Arthur Cook in the mid-1920s to harvest timber to manufacture wood flooring at his mill, Wisconsin-Arkansas Lumber Co. Not long after his purchase, Cook’s land became a large peninsula, when Arkansas Power & Light (now Entergy Arkansas) built Carpenter Dam on the Ouachita River, creating Lake Hamilton.

            Cook died in a vehicle accident in 1934. After his death, Cook’s wife and daughters acquired the land and Cook’s two companies: Wisconsin-Arkansas Lumber and Malvern Brick & Tile. The youngest daughter, Verna, took control of the Cook family’s businesses. She and her husband Patrick Garvan managed Malvern Brick & Tile for 40 years until they sold the business to Acme Brick in the 1970s.

            After the sale of the business, Verna Garvan became a self-taught gardener and conservationist. For more than 30 years, she designed and developed her own large-scale garden. Verna and her husband had dreams of building a grand home on the property, but that dream ended when Patrick became ill and died in 1975.

            But Verna continued to develop the beautiful grounds, deciding that she should share the garden with her fellow Arkansans. She contacted an old family friend, longtime Malvern Brick & Tile employee Warren Bankson, to help her create a plan to share the gardens with the public. 

            Eventually, Verna realized that she and Bankson did not have the necessary expertise to develop the large-scale botanical garden she had dreamed of. And so, in November 1985, she signed a trust agreement with the University of Arkansas that would allow the university’s architecture school and landscape architecture program to operate the gardens in perpetuity for the citizens of Arkansas, with the understanding she would maintain control until her death. As stated in the agreement, her motivation for bequeathing the property to the university was to “serve as a tribute to natural preservation in the twentieth century.” Verna was stricken with cancer and died on Oct. 1, 1993.

            In 1996, the University of Arkansas asked Behnke & Associates of Cleveland to develop a 25-year master plan for the gardens. In 2000, the university officially named the property Garvan Woodland Gardens. The gardens officially opened to the public on April 7, 2002.

            Starting in November 2002, Garvan Woodland Gardens began its massive holiday light display, which now consists of more than 5 million Christmas lights. A crew of about 30 begins working in mid-August to have the display ready for its mid-November opening. The display is open through Dec. 31 but closed on Christmas Day. For more information on hours of operation and admission prices, you can visit garvangardens.org.

            The sight of millions of twinkling lights is amazing, but remember it will take quite a bit of time to get there, park and stand in line to begin your journey through the gardens. While it’s all part of the celebration of the birth of Christ, you'll need the patience of Job to see it.

All Around Arkansas: Arkansas Post National Memorial

 

                    Not long after we started dating, I took my girlfriend — now wife — to the Arkansas Post National Memorial near Gillett (Arkansas County). Some 17 years later, I still haven’t lived it down. 

                    As someone who doesn’t appreciate historical sites like I do, she didn’t — and doesn’t — understand why we made the four-hour round trip to see Arkansas Post. But ’m an Arkansas history buff, and it was well worth it to visit one of the most historically significant places in my home state, even if there wasn’t a lot to see.

                Arkansas Post National Memorial is located on land that was part of the original settlement of Arkansas Post, at the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. In 1686, Henri de Tonti established a trading post known as Poste de Arkansea near the Quapaw village of Osotouy. Because of that, de Tonti is known as the “Father of Arkansas.” The post was the first European settlement in the lower Mississippi River area. Over the years, Arkansas Post relocated four times due to flooding.

                One of the final actions of the Revolutionary War — "Colbert’s Raid" — took place at Arkansas Post. On April 17, 1873, British sympathizers and native Americans attacked the Spanish fort at the settlement. During the raid, James Colbert, a former captain in the British army, led a group of British soldiers and Chickasaw Indians in a failed attempt to force the Spanish out of Arkansas Post.

                Arkansas Post became part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. By 1819, it was a bustling river port and the largest city in the region. As such, Arkansas Post was chosen as the first capital of the newly-formed Arkansas Territory. 

                That same year, a young printer from New York named William Woodruff arrived at Arkansas Post and set up a printing shop. In November 1819, he published the first edition of the Arkansas Gazette, which became the oldest continuously published paper west of the Mississippi River. But within a couple of years, settlers moved into the northern and western portions of the territory, and the population center shifted away from Arkansas Post. In 1821, Arkansas’ territorial capital was moved to Little Rock.

                During the Civil War, Confederate forces tried to maintain control of the confluence of the Arkansas and White rivers. In 1862, they built the large earthen fortification known as Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post. On Jan. 11, 1863, Union troops destroyed the fort along with all other remaining structures. The 5,000 Confederate troops stationed at Fort Hindman were greatly outnumbered by the Union’s 32,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry. The Confederates who survived the battle surrendered and were held as prisoners of war.

                In 1929, the fourth location of Arkansas Post became a state park. Thanks to a bill presented in Congress by Rep. William Frank Norrell and signed by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960, the National Park System established the Arkansas Post National Memorial about 15 miles north of Dumas (Desha County). There, the park service operates a visitors center and museum, which interprets Arkansas Post’s history and significance to the region. 

                Sadly, due to flooding, war and time, little remains of the original settlement of Arkansas Post, except for a few foundations of buildings constructed during its days as the territorial capital of Arkansas. 

                And a word of advice to my readers: If you’re a lover of Arkansas history, you definitely must visit Arkansas Post. But if your spouse is not, make sure you leave him or her at home. Trust me.

        A proud sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He lives in Saline County with his wife, Amy, and their beloved Boston Terrier, Dixie. Find him on Facebook and Instagram at AllAroundArkansas.

                    

All Around Arkansas: Arkansas Municipal Auditorium

 

            My wife and I spent this past Thanksgiving with her family in their hometown of Texarkana. 

            During our stay, my mother-in-law took us to the downtown historic district to an old venue where she and her musical family performed in the 1960s — the Arkansas Municipal Auditorium. Emory Dale and Mary Sorsby and their three daughters often played on the auditorium’s stage at concerts and variety shows.

            But my mother-in-law wasn’t the only entertainment legend who played there. After our conversation and some quick research, I learned all about the colorful building and the amazing talents that graced its stage through the decades.

            Built in the late 1920s, the auditorium was part of the Texarkana, Arkansas Municipal Building, which also housed city hall, a fire station and a jail. The city, which straddles the Texas-Arkansas line and was home to a major railroad junction, began to experience a significant population boom, prompting the need for a multi-use municipal facility. 

            City officials hired the local architectural firm of Witt Seibert & Holley to design the building and the McGehee Construction Co. to build it. Construction began in 1927. The 950-seat auditorium opened in June 1928, and the other portions of the building completed in 1930. The municipal building was built in a prime location at 3rd and Walnut Streets near the heart of Texarkana, Arkansas. 

            With its large capacity and central location, the auditorium became the hot spot for all kinds of performances, ranging from concerts and fashion shows to dance recitals. It was the primary stop for performers appearing on the Louisiana Hayride, a radio (and later television) country music show broadcast from the Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The program helped launch the careers of several famous musicians, including Hank Williams, Sr. and Elvis Presley. 

            Presley performed at the Arkansas Municipal Auditorium several times in the mid-1950s, as did other legends like Arkansans Johnny Cash and Harold Jenkins, who would become known by his stage name, Conway Twitty. Presley and Cash once performed together at the auditorium on Nov. 17, 1955. 

            Other musicians of note that graced the auditorium’s stage include Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, George Jones (he apparently showed up that time), Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, who reportedly debuted his signature song, “Blue Suede Shoes,” on the auditorium's stage. Even the sultry star of the stage and screen, Mae West, performed there.

            But over time, entertainment at the auditorium became more locally focused, featuring high school plays, baby pageants and beauty pageants.

            In 2002, the city’s board of directors created the Texarkana, Arkansas, Municipal Auditorium Commission, which aims to “enhance community pride through the renovation of the Arkansas Municipal Auditorium.”

            The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. On Nov. 17, 2015, city leaders and members of the auditorium commission unveiled a plaque honoring Johnny Cash at the building he helped make famous.

            Throughout the years, with a combination of grants, city and state funds and private donations, the commission has made significant improvements to the building, including a new roof, asbestos removal, and a wall of fame park next to the building.

            Perhaps one day, another young girl will make her own special memories on that historic stage, just as mother-in-law did not so long ago.

            A proud sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He lives in Saline County with his wife, Amy, and their beloved Boston Terrier, Dixie. Brown teaches broadcasting and history at a private school in Bryant. Find him on Facebook and Instagram at AllAroundArkansas.