King of Ragtime

Many people have heard the famous score "The Entertainer," but it may come as a surprise to many that its composer, Scott Joplin was both African-American and lived in Arkansas for a time. Billed as the "King of Ragtime," he was born in Texas and lived in Texarkana.

He also lived for a time in Sedalia, Mo., now the home of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. Good music and fun will be going on there this coming week at the 28th annual festival from June 4-8.

Here's a great source for some information about Joplin: http://www.scottjoplin.org.

Stax Museum of American Soul Music

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis is the only soul music museum in the world. I made a trip to the museum a couple of years ago with a group from East Arkansas Community College in Forrest City.

One of the many displays features Al Green, a native of Forrest City.

Read the resulting story that was published in the newspaper and be sure to read my personal account of the day —

Stax Museum of American Soul Music

Historical sites to see

The Arkansas State Capitol is one of the places on our list of historical sites to see this summer.


With summer quickly approaching, the kids and I are making a list of fun, free things to do in Little Rock/North Little Rock this summer. Several historical sites are on the list and I hope to add some more. We've visited some of them already but the kids enjoyed everything so much and have been asking to go back. A few of the historical sites already on our list are:

*Central High School Visitors' Center
*Old Mill
*Old State House Museum
*State Capitol

There is a nice listing of free attractions in the Little Rock area here: http://www.littlerock.com/media/free-things.asp.

The Old Mill

The Old Mill in North Little Rock is the only structure from the 1939 award-winning movie "Gone with the Wind" to survive until now. It was featured in the opening scenes of the movie.

Never used as an actual mill, the Old Mill is part of the T.R. Pugh Memorial Park. Developer Justin Matthews contracted for the construction of a replica of a water-powered grist mill in 1931, and named the park surrounding the area in honor of his friend Pugh in 1933.

The mill, which is not a copy of any particular mill, is intended to appear abandoned as any early 1800s mill would have been in the 1930s. Though the structure was never used, many elements of it are genuine. From a brochure about the mill:

*The grist mill itself on the first floor came from the Cagle family of Pope County and dates back to 1828.

*The large mill rock on the first floor bear dates of 1823 and 1840.

*The two mill rocks on the second floor and the building's corner stone came from the plantation of Tom Knoble, Pugh's grandfather.

*Two milestones on the old road to the mill were moved there from a military road load out in the 1830s by Lt. Jefferson Davis, who later became the President of the Confederacy.

*Three sections of a wrought iron shaft protecting the "Broken Tree Bench" were cut from the stern wheel of a passenger steamboat which traveled the Arkansas River in the 1800s.

It's free to visit this beautiful mill and park area. Our girls thoroughly enjoyed it a few months ago (photo above) and are begging to go back.

Second oldest city in Arkansas

Batesville is the second oldest settlement in Arkansas and the oldest surviving city. Arkansas Post, the first settlement and first capitol of the Arkansas Territory, is no longer inhabited.

The Independence County town along the White River was named for Judge James Woodson Bates, the first delegate to Congress from the Territory of Arkansas.

For centuries a place of importance because of its location on the White River, Batesville and the surrounding area was Native American land until the first few years of the 19th century. Europeans settled along Poke Bayou in the very early 1800s and called their settlement Poke Bayou. Later the name was changed to Batesville. Bates lived there and practiced law for a time after his Congressional service was up. Today the town of a little less than 10,000 is thriving and alive with history.

Arkansas' first state capitol building

The first state capitol of Arkansas and the oldest standing state capitol building west of the Mississippi is now the Old State House Museum in downtown Little Rock.

Some other interesting facts about the building, taken from the self-guided tour tip sheet and brochures at the museum:

* Slaves helped construct the Old State House from 1833-1846 by making bricks on the site.

* The steamship Ozark sank in the Arkansas River with a cargo of limestone intended for use in building the Old State House.

* A state representative was killed in the original House Chamber in 1837 by the Speaker of the House during a legislative session.

* The Union Army utilized the Old State House as its Arkansas headquarters after it occupied Little Rock in 1863.

* The Old State House once had columns on the side facing the Arkansas River just like the columns on the side facing Markham Street.

* The Old State House was the site of the Crossett Experiment that led to the eradication of malaria-bearing mosquitoes and was the first home of the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.

* President Bill Clinton made his election night speeches in 1992 and in 1996 at the Old State House.

* The Old State House was named a National Historic Landmark in 1997.

Even the grounds of the museum are educational. This photo was taken today out on the grounds, which feature monuments to characters of Arkansas history along with this stone marker my kindergarten child attempted to read!

More information about the treasures of history held at Old State House can be found at www.oldstatehouse.com. Admission to the museum is free.

More from the Old State House

The view from the front of the gorgeous Old State House Museum in downtown Little Rock is shown in the top photo, which I took today.

My niece gets a good look at one of the monuments on the grounds of the Old State House. Her sister and two cousins also enjoyed all the markers, including a large monument honoring David Owen Dodd.