Newport's Silver Moon

            Recently, my wife had a business meeting in Newport (Jackson County) and asked me to come along. Always up for an Arkansas adventure, I agreed, as I knew I could do some sightseeing while she met with clients. Not knowing much about Newport, I called my father who I figured knew some interesting things about the city, as well as possible historical places to visit, since he grew up in nearby Bald Knob (White County). And sure enough, I was right.

            Dad told me about a nightclub and music venue in Newport that he and my mother went to while dating in high school called the Silver Moon. He even claimed they saw a young Elvis Presley on the club's stage. However, my mom has since disputed this story, as she insisted, they never saw the young singer from Memphis in Newport or any place for that matter. Regardless, my interest peaked, and I knew I had to learn more about the venue and hopefully locate where it once stood.

            The Silver Moon opened for business in 1944, during the height of World War II. During the war, a large military base, the Newport Air Field, was constructed in the city, doubling the town's population. With so many servicemen residing in the area, Newport's business owners used the boom in population as an opportunity to satisfy the need for the new residents' desire for entertainment and recreation.

            The original Silver Moon was built by a local businessman with a penchant for gambling named Bob Fortune.  According to the book We Wanna Boogie: The Rockabilly Roots of Sonny Burgess and the Pacers, the club first attracted "wild-ass Marines and sailors from Memphis always looking for a fight." For many years, the Silver Moon had a reputation as the kind of place "respectable people," especially women, did not frequent. Fights were the norm at the Silver Moon. In December 1955, U.S. Navy officer and Silver Moon regular, Francis Callis, was shot on Christmas Day. 

            Despite the violent atmosphere, the nightclub attracted large crowds for many years. The Silver Moon's popularity was due mostly to it hosting such musical acts as Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Wanda Jackson, Glenn Miller, and a host of artists with Arkansas connections such as Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, and Sonny Burgess and the Pacers. And yes, the future "King of Rock and Roll," Elvis Presley also performed on the Silver Moon's legendary stage. During its peak in the late 1950s, the Silver Moon was the most popular nightclub in the Natural State, attracting crowds of over 1,000 people on Friday and Saturday nights.

            The building which housed the club was a simple one. It was a long, rectangular-shaped 7,000-square-foot dance hall with rock walls. Bare copper wire hung from its ceiling to conduct sound to the back of the club. The Silver Moon was located north of Newport along Highway 67, away from the center of town and the snooping eyes of local law enforcement. This made the club especially attractive for unsavory characters looking to lay low.

            In the mid-1950s, the Silver Moon was purchased by World War II veteran, Don Washam. Along with being a hot spot for rock and roll music, the club was a place where customers could drink and gamble. Beer was sold at the Silver Moon and it was said that any sixteen-year-old with a quarter could get one. However, when it came to gambling at the Silver Moon, that was reserved for customers in an invitation-only back room. 

            Sadly, all good things must end, and the popularity of the Silver Moon began its decline in the late 1960s. For the most part, local police had turned a blind eye to the gambling that took place inside the club. However, all that changed during Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller's administration as he made cracking down on illegal gambling in Arkansas a top priority. As a result, gambling ceased at the Silver Moon and the days of attracting up-and-coming musical acts did as well. In 1968, Washam sold the venue for just $55,000 to a local farmer, Abe Jones.

            The original building that housed the club burned in 1987, and all that remained was its concrete slab. A new version of the Silver Moon called the Silver Moon Banquet Hall, was built on the same lot behind the Silver Moon's original location. The club barely resembled the original Silver Moon, but it did keep the club's name and logo of a silhouette of a wolf howling at the moon painted on its front. On August 24, 2017, a memorial service was held there for Sonny Burgess after his passing. The second incarnation of the Silver Moon closed in March 2021.

            So, after some research, I was able to locate the original Silver Moon’s location. Off Highway 67, I found the club’s concrete slab, as well as the building that housed the Silver Moon Banquet Hall. Walking atop the concrete slab, I thought about all the legends that frequented the legendary Silver Moon, including my mom and dad.

Ravenden Springs, Arkansas

 

                Located in the easternmost portion of the Ozark Mountains lies the town of Ravenden Springs (Randolph County). Its beginnings date back to 1809, when John Janes settled on the creek that now bears his name near present-day Ravenden Springs. Janes, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, established a trading post on the banks of the stream. Eventually, two small villages grew up around Janes’s store, Walnut Hill and Kingsville, both of which slowly disappeared over time.

                Ravenden Springs was established in 1880, due to a recurring dream of Rev. Willam Bailey. Bailey, a Methodist minister, had suffered from a painful stomach ailment most of his adult life. According to local legend, Bailey dreamed there was a miracle spring located at the bottom of the rock walls of Hall’s Creek Canyon, where Bailey and his family had resided for several decades. The Methodist minister dreamed he climbed down into the canyon, found and drank from a spring and was miraculously cured of his sickness. The settlement that grew up around the spring became known as Dream Town. Eventually the town’s name would officially be changed to Ravenden Springs when it was incorporated on Aug. 18, 1881.

                According to a Nov. 23, 2008 article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a total of five springs were discovered in Hall’s Creek Canyon and each supposedly had unique healing properties for various ailments. Other reports cite a different number of springs, including one in the May 24, 1887 edition of the Arkansas Gazette, which listed three springs.  Yet another article in the Oct. 24, 1937 issue of the Gazette mentioned only two healing springs.

                The tale of Rev. Bailey’s dream and the miracle spring spread like wildfire across the region, and as such, more settlers and tourists came to the area. One such visitor was a railroad executive named R. D. Welsh. Welsh visited the spring and the surrounding area. He was immediately impressed with what he saw and returned to his native city of St. Louis to organize a stock company. Welsh returned to the area and laid out a town around the spring. Welsh’s stock company constructed a forty-room hotel named the Southern Hotel above Hall’s Creek Canyon in 1883. 

                With the construction of the hotel and the growing popularity of the springs by those looking for miraculous cures, Ravenden Springs became a true spa town. More hotels were built to accommodate the increasing number of visitors. The town was especially busy during summer months, as it was located at a higher elevation than the swamplands to the east, which made it much cooler than other areas in the state. 

                Once known as Dream Town, Ravenden Springs was named for another canyon in the vicinity known as Elephant Cave. High upon the canyon’s wall was a shallow cave called the Raven’s Den. The den was a popular nesting place of the bird species during the 1820s. However, for some reason, ravens have not been spotted in the area since the early 1860s.

                During its peak years as a spa town, Ravenden Springs was home to many businesses, a post office, banks, and doctors and law offices. The majestic Atkins Hotel was built in 1902, and offered numerous amenities to visitors. However, starting in the 1930s, Ravenden Springs began to lose its popularity as a summer resort. 

                Today, Ravenden Springs is home to several businesses, four churches and a post office. Many of the town’s 200 residents are farmers and ranchers, while others are employed in nearby Pocahontas. 

                The community schoolhouse, a large single-story fieldstone structure built in 1941, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in January 2004. The building is now home to the Ravenden Springs Community Museum, which interprets the history of the area.

                Also located in Ravenden Springs is a 12-foot-tall raven statue made of cement stucco erected in 1996, after the original fiberglass statue built in 1991 by members of the local volunteer fire department, was set afire by vandals. Located on Highway 63 as you enter Ravenden Springs, the statue is must-see attraction and a great place for photo-op.

Remembering Ray Winder Field

                

                Some of my favorite childhood memories growing up in central Arkansas was attending Arkansas Traveler baseball games at Ray Winder Field in Little Rock. To this day, I can close my eyes and picture the old field, smell the popcorn and hear the notes from the pipe organ that was played at the games.

                Ray Winder Field was the longtime home of the minor league baseball team first known as the Little Rock Travelers and later changed to the Arkansas Travelers. The ballpark was originally called Travelers Field when it first opened in 1932. In 1966, the stadium’s name was changed in honor of Ray Winder. Winder’s association with the Travelers started as a ticket taker as a young boy who worked his way up to becoming a part owner and general manager of the team. 

                The stadium was constructed in 1931, and was located in Little Rock’s Fair Park (later renamed War Memorial Park). In the 1960s, construction on Interstate 630 began south of the park. To prevent balls from being hit out onto the freeway, a fifty-five-foot fence was erected in 1974. During this time, some of the park’s bleachers were removed, which reduced capacity from 7,000 to around 6,000.

                The stadium officially opened on April 13, 1932, and served as the home turf for the Little Rock Travelers Baseball Club from 1932 through 1958, and once again from 1960 to 1961. Ray Winder Field served as the home of the renamed and relaunched Arkansas Travelers Baseball Club from 1963 until 2006, when concerns about its safety due to age, as well as the city leadership’s desire for a more modern venue, led to its closure. The field was also used by several professional Negro League baseball teams during the 1940s and 1950s. 

                The final baseball game held at Ray Winder Field took place on September 3, 2006, and saw the Arkansas Travelers defeat the Springfield Cardinals 7–2 in front of 8,000 fans (including yours truly). This was the second-largest turnout in the team’s storied history.  The largest crowd to watch a game at Ray Winder Field took place in 1991, when 12,000 people came to see Fernando Valenzuela's rehabilitation start. At the time of its closing, Ray Winder Field was one of the oldest active baseball parks in the United States.

                After the Arkansas Travelers moved to across the river to Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock in April 2007, Ray Winder Field stood vacant for nearly five years as city leaders, historic preservationists and local baseball aficionados pondered what to do with the historic stadium. Efforts to save it due to it being a historic structure were met with resistance. One idea was to allow the nearby Little Rock Zoo to use it as a viewing area for various animal exhibits. Ultimately, city leaders decided to sell the stadium and land to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Ray Winder Field was demolished and the land was used for a parking lot. However, UAMS did save the scoreboard, ensuring that one iconic remnant of the old ballpark would remain.

                Prior to the demolition of Ray Winder Field in July 2012, the public was given an opportunity to purchase a piece of the park. In November 2007, the city held the “Ray Winder Field Yard Sale,” in which anything not nailed down was sold. In May 2011, fans were allowed in on a first-come, first-served basis to claim stadium seats. The orange and green wooden seats were scooped up within minutes. 

                And while the new ball park in my hometown of North Little Rock is an amazing place to watch a baseball game, in my opinion, no venue will ever be as wonderful as Ray Winder Field—the home to so many exciting games and nostalgic memories