From Turbulence to Tranquility:
The Little Rock Arsenal (continued)
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By order of the Board of Improvement, there will be sold on Tuesday, the 1st day of August 1893...all buildings except the Tower Building. |
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Arkansas Gazette, July 19, 1893 |
By 1893, all arsenal structures except the Tower Building had been demoilished or sold and moved to other sites. New buildings soon arose, however, to replace the original ones. Little Rock constructed a fire station in the park in 1917 and travelers used the grounds for overnight camping during the 1920s. Many residents still recall a band shell, named for H. H. Foster, that provided public entertainment for local audiences. In 1936, the Works Progress Administration built the Museum of Fine Arts, now the Arkansas Arts Center.
In its new role as a civilian structure, the Tower Building served a variety of purposes. Schoolchildren met there during the early 1900s, and Little rock's first public library opened on its second floor in 1912. The building served as headquarters for the UCV Reunion in 1911 and later as an armory for the Arkansas National Guard. For more than a century it has been the home of the Aesthetic Club, one of the oldest women's organizations west of the Mississippi.
Today, the Tower Building contributes to Little Rock's
cultural landscape much as it has for the past 160 years. As the first
structure of the Little Rock Arsenal, it originally represented the
federal government's commitment to a frontier state. As the only surviving
arsenal building, it now symbolizes the military's role in our state and
local development. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994, the
Tower Building is one of Central Arkansas's oldest structures.
Built as protection from a frontier environment, the Little Rock Arsenal survived the Civil War, witnessed the birth of a military legend, and served as an educational facility for thousands of Arkansans. Now begins a new chapter in its history. The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History returns this historic structure to active duty as a museum interpreting our state's rich military heritage.
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