Monticello Live

This week we’ll resume our journey south down historic North Main Street and begin at the handsome buff brick Tudor-style home sitting on the attractively manicured lawn at the beginning of the next block on the east side of the street. Built in the late 1920’s by Henry Trotter who married Lucille Simmons from Pine Bluff, the home is one of the most admired in the city. (Henry Trotter was a son to V. J. Trotter and grew up in the house that is now the Trotter House, a bed-and-breakfast.) In 1937 the young couple moved to Pine Bluff and Dr. Johnny Price bought the home. Dr. Price’s daughter, Ann, has many delightful stories and memories centered on growing up in the beautiful home. It was there that Ann was married to Dr. James F. Clark in 1964. (more…)

This week we’ll continue our tour of Monticello’s North Main Street by returning to the north end of the street where the site of the new library sits and “strolling” down the east side of North Main Street.

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This is a Edison Amberola DX on display in the living room at the museum, It was produced in July of 1914 and retailed for $30 dollars. It was the first model that had a internal speaker instead of the “horn” and played a 4 minute plastic disc instead of the old fragile wax disc. This model was also the last of the Edison line to be belt driven and was said to be Edison’s “final achievement”.  He later came out with a more inexpensive worm gear driven model.

Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 5 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

This painting of the old courthouse hangs in the music room of the museum and was painted by Dr. James Smith DDS. An African-American, who was originally from, Chicago but lost everything to the great Chicago fire.

Dr. Smith then got a job with the government and was made postmaster in Monticello, where he also taught art classes to the wealthy. After he saved enough money, he moved back to Chicago and married his sweetheart.

The couple then moved back to Arkansas, settling in Little Rock, where Smith was a well known dentist, The couple had four children,including a daughter who was musically inclined and became the first African-American female composer to have her symphony played by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the late 1890’s.

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Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 5 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

Click here for the first edition of the series.

Last week we stopped our tour of North Main Street at the First Presbyterian Church, so we’ll pick up here this week. This location was formerly the site of the “first” hospital in Monticello – the Mack Wilson Hospital.

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Earlier, we “walked” the blocks of North Main that hold the First Presbyterian Church, the noted Allen House and the forlorn block that once was the home of Monticello’s earlier elementary schools in our “tour” of Monticello’s North Main Street.

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This “fiddle” This” Fiddle” was willed to the Ryburn Family in the 1870’s by an unknown benefactor, and is on display in the music room of the museum. 

What makes this violin interesting, and also goes to show the ingenuity of our forefathers, is on the inside of the violin are rattle snake rattlers, It was said that not only did the rattlers produce a soothing vibrato tone to the violin, it also kept the mice from nesting in it.

Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum,  We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 5 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership.  Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

For the next several weeks we’ll take a “fun” tour down Main Street in historic Monticello. We’ll begin on North Main at the “old” hospital grounds and continue down the street taking one side at a time. When we come to the Square, we’ll take a walk around the Square and see how it used to be. Then we’ll continue down South Main Street. I am relying on the excellent memory of many of my good friends as we take this journey down historic Monticello’s Main Street and I want to thank them from the beginning for their insightful recollections. Enjoy! 

Let’s begin on that large, lovely lot at the end of old North Main that is now known as “the old hospital” grounds.

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The old Drew County Courthouse, on the Town Square

In light of Monticello’s recent improvements to the town square, my thoughts again turn to the old courthouse square and what a treasure it is for Monticello. I can’t help but regret the demolition of the old courthouse that once stood there though.

A brick from he "Old Courthouse on the Square."

Since the old courthouse was torn down in 1933, there are few Drew Countians who remember what a regal structure it was! Built in 1870, it proudly stood in the center of the Square and watched over daily activities in the growing city for 63 years. Its 110-foot tower held a four-faced clock and a large bell. (The clock is lost in antiquity, but the courthouse bell sits proudly by Weevil Pond on the UAM campus.)

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At a recent meeting, the discussion turned to the membership of most organizations in Monticello and it was observed that most civic groups’ memberships are held by older citizens. The future of many organizations may become questionable unless more younger people can be recruited and become involved.

Again I was reminded that history repeats itself when I recalled a newspaper article in the December 17, 1907, which listed seven organizations, referred to as lodges, that were hale and hearty 103 years ago in Monticello. Today only two still thrive and the others’ names have been largely forgotten in today’s Drew County. (more…)

With Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs opening Saturday, this seems like a time relevant topic for this week’s “memory”.

I had heard for years about a race track that formerly existed in Drew County. The late Walter Moffatt spoke of family outings there in his boyhood. Most folks knew about its existence but had neither seen the racetrack nor knew where it was located. It was lost in antiquity. However, through GIS and aerial photography, I recently saw the old racetrack clearly from the skies and lying on the southwestern edge of Monticello.

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Every time I head west from the Square down West McCloy Street and make that big turn by E-Z Mart onto North Hyatt my mind goes back to the late 1960s and the mouth-watering food served at restaurant there called Bee Dee’s! (Actually Bee Dee’s sat on the corner of West Gaines and North Hyatt.) (more…)

Nearly every city has allegedly experienced a brush with a famous person whether he is “good or bad”. Bonnie and Clyde reportedly once visited Monticello. Tillar, a small farming community, also had a visit from legendary outlaws – the notorious James boys.

This event was recorded by Hie C. Birch of Tillar and found in the Drew County Archives. Mr. Birch was born August 24, 1874, on Macon Bayou and died in McGehee on January 10, 1956. At some point before his death he wrote his memories of the James’ visit to Tillar during his youth. This article is a summary of that ignoble visit. (more…)

by Sheilla Lampkin

In light of the current restoration work being done at the Drew County Courthouse; we’ll look at the history of the present Drew County Courthouse (more…)

This week’s column will be devoted to a dire situation for a historic landmark located in Drew County – the 1874 Selma Methodist Church. This unique, little structure stands in great peril and can only be “saved” by immediate action. Let’s begin by reflecting on the history of the beautiful building. (more…)

This week’s reflection will summarize the history of an American institution in Monticello from its beginnings to its end. This product, symbolic of America itself, was known for generations as “the pause that refreshes” – Coca-Cola. (more…)