Scenes of Augusta

Hello folks!

Well, my face is sunburned after spending 2 1/2 hours in the sun doing a walkabout of Augusta this past Saturday morning. Sponsored by the Arkansas History Department, a tour was conducted by a lady from Little Rock whose research into the history of Augusta and the "contributing" buildings was very extensive. Rebecca Boyles, City Clerk of Augusta, assisted in the tour.

We began at the front steps of the Courthouse at 11:00 am. Learned all about the history of Hough, the founder of Augusta, in 1848. The Hough house was transformed into the first courthouse, and finally a new courthouse was constructed in 1902. Ever heard of someone by the name of T. E. Stanley? Well, it seems he was also County Judge at the time and his name is on the cornerstone of the Courthouse.

Then we marched all the way over to the cemetery where the gravesites, including the Stanley site, of many original founders were pointed out to us. It was a brilliant morning. the birds were chirping, and the sun shining down through those ancient trees on the hill. Returning to the Courthouse past the cemetery, we stopped at the Ferguson house, crossed the street to the Presbyterian Church which was opened for a tour, inspected the momument and graves of the Hough family behind the church.

We then walked on back to the Hyde House on Front Street. I'm happy to report that the house is slowly being restored for use as a historical center for Augusta. Rebecca Boyles is involved in the restoration and we were able to enter the main hall and two adjoining rooms. At least some people are taking an interest and doing what they can slowly do on a very cramped budget.

We then hiked on down Front Street, past the old Saw Mill site, and on up to the old warehouse section around Burrough's. The history that the State has accumulated on those buildings was absolutely remarkable. The names of the old warehouses that served both Conner and Augusta Mercantiles in the old days. History of the Dummy Line, The site of the bottle shop opposite T-Berry's and then on down to the Legion Hut where we viewed some high water marks from the recent flooding. Rebecca has some examples of the old mussels shells in which buttons had been extracted. Remember the piles of shells that used to be next to the Legion Hut? By the way, the River is still high!

We then walked back up the hill past the Gregory House, turned left and walked North by Preller's, which has an interesting history. As we crossed the street and walked past the park where the old hotel was located, we were told the history of the lovely fountain that now graces the center of the park. Seems that name, T. E. Stanley, keeps popping up again, and that the family donated it to Augusta after it was removed from the front yard of the old Stanley home when it was demolished. Don't guess Hallie or Joe would know anything about that, now would they?

Then on up and down the street on both sides...history of all sites, stories of two major fires in the late 19th century, and the uses of so many buildings up and down the street throughout the lengthy commercial period of downtown. The Cannon Drug store building was pointed out as being probably the finest example of the commercial buildings that were built in Augusta during the early 20th century.

We walked around the block to Froneburger's where we peeked in the windows and heard the stories of segregated dining during the Jim Crow days. Then on back through the alley by the Dodd building and we ended the tour in front of Dr. Dungan's old house and clinic.

Talk about an intense 2 1/2 hours. I've known Augusta, of course, for years, but never had such a thorough history lesson. Kuddos to the State History Department and to Rebecca Boyles for a fine job well done. Rebecca was excellent on the tour, being able to share insights from a personal perspective. Rachel, the lady from Little Rock, did a wonderful job documenting all the information on Augusta. I suggested to Rebecca that she might consider offering further historical walking tours in order to raise badly needed funds for the restoration of the Hyde House.

It was a fun day and many of your names were mentioned as we hiked along. Hope to see many of you in a couple of weeks at the reunion. Days are flying by, aren't they?