Fayetteville History

Johnson Mill

Although not part of Fayetteville, the Johnson Mill has contributed to Fayetteville's economy for more than 150 years, first as a mill and then as a hotel. Lexy French, a broadcast journalism major at the University of Arkansas, interviews David Quin about the history of the Johnson Mill in this video.

Fayetteville's Masonic Lodge

The staff of the Fayetteville City Government Channel, led by manager Fritz Gisler, produce short videos about the history of Fayetteville in a series called Fayetteville History Minute, which airs on the government channel. The latest history minute is about the Free Mason organization and the Washington Lodge No. 1 of Fayetteville, the first Masonic lodge established in Arkansas.

Historic Washington County Courthouse

 

The Fayetteville History Minute episode about the Historic Washington County Courthouse, which aired in January, won a bronze Telly Award in the category of documentary programming.

Fritz Gisler, manager of the Fayetteville Government Channel, received the award for excellence in video production. Neal Bilbe is the lead producer for the series.

Fayetteville History Minute: White Hangar

Fayetteville's latest History Minute is about the construction and use of the White Hangar at Drake Field.

Fayetteville History Minute: A.F. Wolf Building

The staff of the Fayetteville City Government Channel, led by manager Fritz Gisler, produce short videos about the history of Fayetteville, called Faytteville History Minute, which air on the government channel. This week's history minute is about the A.F. Wolf Building, built in 1906 and now home to the Fayetteville city's administrative offices.

Old Main: A Symbol of Higher Education

The staff of the Fayetteville City Government Channel, led by manager Fritz Gisler, produce short videos about the history of Fayetteville, called Faytteville History Minute, which air on the government channel. 

 

An 1890 engraving of the University of Arkansas campus shows University Hall, now known as Old Main, at the center of campus. Other buildings include Buchanan Hall to the left, the original frame classrooms used while Old Main was being built, and the Agricultural Experiment Station beyond the north tower.

Old Main

The symbol of higher education in Arkansas, Old Main was the first permanent building to be erected on the Arkansas Industrial University campus. Its exterior was finished in 1875, just three years after the university opened for classes. It is the oldest building still standing on the campus and the only one built in the 19th century still standing.

Initially, it was simply referred to as “the University building,” but it was formally named University Hall in 1895. By the turn of the 20th century, the more sentimental name of Old Main had gained currency, and the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees officially changed the name to Old Main in 1991.

A firm at Helena, Arkansas, McKay and Helmle, was originally considered for designing a university hall, but trustees visited campuses in Illinois and Michigan, coming away set on having a main building like the one at Illinois Industrial University, designed by John Mills Van Osdel, a Chicago architect. Although the two buildings were nearly identical, the towers were swapped, with the taller bell tower to the right side of the building and the smaller clock tower moved to the left. Although the reason for the switch is unknown, two myths for why this switch occurred have attained:

• Moving the taller tower to the north would symbolize the Union’s victory in the Civil War, waged less than a decade earlier. The university was founded and organized during Reconstruction, so Unionists still held sway politically and may have been happy to take credit for the change.
• The contractor got drunk and looked at the plans backwards. This seems less plausible given the Baptist background of the contractor.

Both of these stories appear to be legends. Don Schaeffer in his history of Old Main says the switch was made to make it easier for residents of downtown Fayetteville to see the clock tower, not that there was a clock to see. Because of expense, installation of a clockworks was put off.

The construction bid from Mayes and Oliver of Fayetteville was accepted, and Joseph Carter Corbin, the superintendent of public instruction for Arkansas and ex-officio president of the university board of trustees, signed the $123,885 contract for erection of University Hall. John McKay was made supervising architect, and two Fayetteville civic leaders, Lafayette Gregg and Stephen K. Stone, were added to the trustees’ building committee.

Materials for construction came mostly from local sources. Lumber was milled at Peter Van Winkle’s mill near the historic War Eagle Mill and hauled to Fayetteville by oxen. Bricks were made from clay deposits on the south side of Fayetteville and fired in the brickyard of John L. Kelton. Cut stone for the exterior trim came from northeast Washington and western Madison counties. And sandstone for the foundation and basement was quarried near the building.

During the early part of the 20th century, professors erected a large aerial between the towers of Old Main, barely visible in this picture, to receive radio signals.

Old Main’s architectural style is known as Second Empire, and its mansard roof is perhaps the most obvious expression of that style. The east portico, however, is a classical design and is immortalized in the official seal of the university.

The building has needed repairs almost since it was finished and has been remodeled almost as often as new academic programs were initiated at the university. By the early 1980s, though, the building was closed because of safety concerns. A fundraising campaign was launched to renovate the structure, and it was rededicated in 1991.

In 2005, a clock was finally installed as part of the culmination of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, ending a timeless tradition. Today, Old Main is home to the dean’s offices of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences as well as several academic departments. Giffels Auditorium, refurbished to its original look, is on the second floor.

BIBILOGRAPHY
Schaefer, Don. “History of University of Arkansas Buildings (Unpublished manuscript, most recently updated April 29, 2003).
Facilities Management. Historic Buildings (University of Arkansas Facilities Management: 2003).
Rothrock, Thomas. “The University of Arkansas’s ‘Old Main,’” Arkansas Historical Quarterly (Arkansas Historical Association, Fayetteville) Spring 1971.

Headquarters House

Headquarters House, 118 E. Dickson St., as it appeared about 1950. Today, it's owned by the Washington County Historical Society and used for historical programs.

Also known as the Tebbetts House, this frame home with Greek revival design was built in 1853 by Matilda and Jonas March Tebbetts as their family home in Fayetteville. Its design was the same as the William Baxter House, which stood across Dickson Street at about the location of the Washington County Courthouse.

Jonas Tebbetts was a lawyer and civic leader who owned land in Washington and Crawford counties. The Tebbettses sided with the Union when the state seceded, and Jonas Tebbetts was taken prisoner in early 1862 and held at Fort Smith for hanging. He was granted a reprieve and freedom not long after the general who had planned to have him hanged, Gen. Benjamin McCullough, was killed at the Battle of Pea Ridge. After release, the Tebbettses moved to St. Louis, Missouri, when conditions allowed for safe transit.

During the war, the house was used at various times as headquarters by both Union and Confederate forces. It was at the center of the Battle of Fayetteville on April 18, 1863, when Confederate forces attacked the Union army, with the heaviest fighting occurring on the grounds in front of the house. The front door of Headquarters House sustained damage from mini-balls, and that door was later moved to an interior doorway to better preserve it.

The house was designed and built by William Baxter with a central hall and matching wings to left and right. A brick smokehouse and hand-dug well still stand in the backyard. Since 1967, the house has served as headquarters for the Washington County Historical Society, which conducts tours and opens the house to visitors during its annual Ice Cream Social and commemorations of the Battle of Fayetteville.

Many of the pieces of furniture in the house are from the Tebbetts family or from the period in which the family lived in Fayetteville. It is perhaps the most beautiful antebellum home still standing in Fayetteville. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In the 1980s, the law office of Archibald Yell was moved to the backyard of Headquarters House.

BIBILOGRAPHY
Leflar, Helen Finger and Carolyn Lewis Newbern. Yesterdays: A Walk through the Washington-Willow Historic District. (Washington County Historical Society, Fayetteville: 1983).
Lemke, Walter J. Some Old Fayetteville Homes (Fayetteville: 1951).

Arkansas Air Museum

Recreation of the Fight Service Station at Drake Field, which provided pilots with weather, briefings and emergency help.

The museum opened to the public in 1986 with displays and exhibits about the history of aviation in Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas and vintage aircraft, both civilian and military, from across the 20th century. The museum is housed in the historic White Hangar at Drake Field, Fayetteville's municipal airport at 4290 S. School Ave.

Although the collection of aircraft rotate in and out because many of the aircraft are still flying, aircraft on display will always include biplanes, jets, helicopters and, most recently, the cockpit of a Douglas DC-3. The museum also sponsors an airfest each year, usually in June.

To become a member, the Arkansas Air Museum has an online form.

• They also have news and events;
• An online list of aircraft and aviation engines;
• And, a list of permanent exhibits.