Old Mill reopened after fire

The Old Mill in North Little Rock is back to normal after suffering a fire a few months ago. We made a trip there during spring break. The girls had a picnic lunch and played for a while. We went back last week for a quick trip.

Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

My daughter visited the new Mosaic Templars Cultural Center during a school field trip last week. My son and I had visited a couple of months back while I was preparing to write a piece on African-American museums in the state.

Located at Ninth and Broadway in Little Rock, the center marks the area that was once the African-American business district. The many photographs and displays illustrate what an important area this district was years ago.

Today in history

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree, slave, in Hurley, New York on this day in 1797.

Richard Theodore Greener was the first African-American to graduate from Harvard University in 1844, on this day.

More interesting African-American historical tidbits are at Black Facts Online.

Read more about Sojourner Truth here.

Black museums of Arkansas

I'm excited to be writing about some of the wonderful museums tell the story of African-Americans in Arkansas for a newspaper piece next month.

My favorite museum of all time is the Fargo Agricultural School Museum located a few miles north of my hometown. Another fascinating one is the Uzuri Project display in Hot Springs; I wrote about this fascinating exhibit almost two years ago for a different newspaper. Intriguing and informing, these museums and many others relay a vital piece of history that is not to be missed.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in downtown Little Rock (9th and Broadway, at the heart of the African-American business district of decades ago) is a new museum I'll be adding to my list of places to see.

More on the Old Mill fire

Officials are now saying the fire Tuesday night at the Old Mill in North Little Rock could be arson.

Read more on the KARK Channel 4 website.

I still can't upload any of my great photos of the Old Mill for some reason. I'll keep trying. While you wait, take a look at a post from a while back with a photo of my girls and a lot of interesting facts about the Old Mill.

Old Mill on fire

The Old Mill in North Little Rock, the only surviving structure to have appeared in the classic film, "Gone with the Wind," experienced a fire last night!

According to KARK Channel 4, the fire was reported last night around 9 p.m. and was contained to the roof.

I hope it didn't do much damage and that it can be cleaned up. This place is just beautiful and my children love it.

I have a lot of photos of this beautiful landmark but wasn't able to upload one this morning. Maybe later!

Union Station

The impressive Union Station sits at Markham and Victory Streets in Little Rock. (No, your eyes aren't going bad, there was a smudge on my camera lens and I didn't realize it when I took this photo. I need to go get some better ones!)

Towering over the intersection of Markham and Victory Streets near downtown Little Rock, Union Station was built in 1921 and was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

It is the third such building to occupy this site. The first was a wood-frame building erected in 1873 and torn down in 1906 to make way for an elaborate, Second Empire-style structure. Finished in 1911, that building was destroyed by fire.

The current Union Station was opened to the public on July 31, 1921. Today it houses a museum, restaurants, offices, and passenger rail offices.