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Kays House on the National Register of Historic Places

(Courtesy of http://blog.arkansaspreservation.com/five-arkansas-properties-listed-national-register-historic-places-2/)

Written by Mark Christ

Five Arkansas properties have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of historically significant properties, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program Director Frances McSwain announced today.
The newly listed properties are:
 

* Morrilton Colored School at Morrilton in Conway County, a ca. 1934 structure built to serve the educational needs of the area’s African American children. “The Morrilton Colored School was an important component of the education system for African Americans in the Morrilton area from the 1930s until its closing in 1965,” according to the National Register nomination. “The school’s importance stretched beyond Morrilton to include several surrounding communities in Conway, Pope, Perry, and Yell counties including Havana, Danville, Dardanelle, Russellville, Atkins, and Bigelow. The school was not only a place where African-Americans were educated, but also a place where they held special events.”

Victor Cicero Kays House, Jonesboro, Craighead County

* Victor Cicero Kays House at Jonesboro in Craighead County, a 1936 Tudor Revival-style building designed by the architect A. N. McAninch for Kays, the founding president of First District State Agricultural School, now Arkansas State University. “The V. C. Kays House is an important reflection of the legacy of Kays with respect to Arkansas State University, especially his later years of involvement with the institution,” according to the National Register nomination. “When the house was built in 1936, it was near the end of Kays’ tenure at the institution, but he still had a lasting legacy in those years. As business manager and interim president, Kays had an important role in the University’s transition from his leadership to that of his successor.”

Northern Ohio School, Parkin, Cross County

* Northern Ohio School at Parkin in Cross County, a Plain Traditional-style building with Craftsman-style details built ca. 1910 to serve the area’s African American students. “It is stated that the school house is related to the Sawdust Hill Community located within the Northern Ohio Cooperage and Lumber Company mill, and was built for the children of the African-American mill and farm workers,” according to the National Register nomination. “At the same time the school for the white students was being constructed, the Northern Ohio Cooperage was building a second school for the children of the African-American employees in 1910. This school would provide an education for the African-American children from first through eighth grade.”

Hankins Store, Oil Trough, Independence County

* Hankins’ Store at Oil Trough in Independence County, a wood-frame commercial building erected in 1904. “The store has served the residents of Oil Trough and surrounding areas for over 100 years,” according to the National Register nomination. “For most of its existence the store has been a general store, stocking all types of merchandise, including clothes, groceries, hardware, seed, shoes, lunch meats, medical supplies and most everything that homeowners and farmers needed for their homes and farming activities. During the early years of the store’s existence most of the people lived on farms and were sharecroppers, and they lived most of the year without any income until crops were harvested in the fall. Most of the merchandise was sold on credit with the promise to pay when the crops were harvested.”

Mary H. Matthews Lustron House, Little Rock, Pulaski County

* Mary H. Matthews Lustron House at Little Rock in Pulaski County, a ca. 1949 steel frame building with walls covered in square, porcelain-enameled steel panels. “The Mary H. Matthews Lustron House is a good example of the porcelain-enameled steel Lustron House of the late 1940s, which was developed as a pre-fabricated house that could be erected cheaply and quickly on its site,” according to the National Register nomination. “The Lustron House was hoped to be mass-produced and was also hoped to be a house type that could aid in alleviating the post-World-War-II housing shortage that was a problem across the country. By the end of 1949, twelve Lustron homes had been shipped to Arkansas, and the Matthews House is one of four known surviving examples in the state, and one of two known to survive in Little Rock.”
The AHPP is the Department of Arkansas Heritage agency responsible for identifying, evaluating, registering and preserving the state’s cultural resources. Other agencies are the Arkansas Arts Council, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the Historic Arkansas Museum.

Johnathan Reaves is the News Director for KASU Public Radio. As part of an Air Force Family, he moved to Arkansas from Minot, North Dakota in 1986. He was first bitten by the radio bug after he graduated from Gosnell High School in 1992. While working on his undergraduate degree, he worked at KOSE, a small 1,000 watt AM commercial station in Osceola, Arkansas. Upon graduation from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcast News, he decided that he wanted to stay in radio news. He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas and worked for East Arkansas Broadcasters as news director and was there for 16 years.