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spD-1q5- U 100' ~ 8 ; HO 10-300 10.3~'

"[TEV STATESDEPARTMENT OFTHE {Nf ERlO R ~ J A T ~ ~ R K S E R V I ~ .

" . R E G m R OF HISTORIC PLAC&= - - - - . a . -

:%WWORY .A N+OMINAmOhl FORM ID:; ;HIERED - . . . - 2.. - .++. . - .C I

b

SEE INSTRUCTIONS I R H ~ ~ F , T U C Q M ~ - E T P ~ ~ ' A ~ ~ U N T ~ ~ L I F E G I S T E ~ ~ ~ - F Q ~ ~ TYPE ALL ENTRf ES -- COMPLETE APPLICAB~ESECTIQNS

NAME - * >.s-- ,-

- I ,- - .-. -

4- . -.,- 1.- - .-

HISTORIC I

Faucette Building, AFIDKW1CO)llklON - , /

STREET h NUMBER

~ o u r t h and Main Streets -NOTFOR PUBUCATION

U T Y . TOWU CONG9ESSlQNAC'DISTAICT - ~ o r t h Little Rock . . . 2 - , VfCIWITY OF

STATE CODE COCLNTY . . CODE

Arkansas 05 Fulaski i19

CLASSIFICATION + ._i_l .

CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS ,DISTRICT -PUB L' c &OCCUPIED

ILBUILDIPIGCS) XWI~ATE , u ~ O c c u ~ t ~ o ,STBUCfCI RE ,BOW -WORK IN PROGRESS

,SITE PUBLIC ACQUlSlTlOH ACCESSIBLE ,owfer ,IN PROCESS KYES. R E S ~ R I ~ O

,BEING COhlSlOERED EYES UMAESTA~CTED

,NO ,

PRESENT USE

NAME

Mrs, Mon D. Thaxtcn STREET L NUMBER

5321 Centerwood UPT. TOWN STArE

L i t t l e Rock VICINITY OF . Arkansas --

~ L O C A T I O N OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION . - .

COURTHOUSE.

5FDEEDsETc C i r c u i t Clerks Office STREET& NUMBER

Pulaski County Courthouse CfW. ?OWN STATE

Little Rock . . Xrkansas - .

a XEPXESENTA~~QN IN EXISTING SURVEYS

w IFEDERM ,STATE COUP^ -LOCAL - .

3SPDS1TORY FOR SURVEY RECOAOS - ,

CITY. TOWh STATE

., . . . .

O E R I O ~ *W " AREAS OF StGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND LJUSTFFY BELOW r

AEHtSTORtC ARCHEULUGY-PREHISTORIC X_COMMUNITY PLANNING A N D S C A P E ARCHIECWRS ,RELIGION ! I . . .-I 600- 1491 _AREHEOLOGY*H(STORIC -CONSERVATION -LAW 3 C 1 ENCE

,, t 500-1599 - 4 G R t C U C I U A E -ECONOMICS -LITERATUR E 3 C U LPTURE ' ! - 1 6CO-1699- ARCHITECTURE ,EOLlCATlOhl ,MILITARY --SOClAYHUMAN1TARIAFI

-1 700-1 794 A R T ,ENGINEERING -MUSIC -THEATER

2 1 8 0 0 - 1 899 X-COMMEACE , E X P L O R A ~ ~ ~ S E ~ L E M E NT LPW ILOSOPHY * ,TRANSPORTATION ..

-XI 900- ,COMMUNICA~ONS -INDUSTRY ~ ~ P O ~ ~ C G G O V ~ R N M E N T -OTHER ISPECIF'F)

,INVENTlON

SPECIF~C DATES 1891 BUI CDERIARCH l t E U

STATEIflENT OF SIGNIFICANCE . .

> '

. - , . The FauCette Building, located on N o r t h L i t t l e Rock's Main Street, is

. . - .historically significant in its-representati~n of William C. and J m s Peter .' Faucette. The Faucette brothers w e r e instrumental. in the establishment and development of the city of 1 1 o r t ~ Little Rock.

. " Subsequently the brothers opened the area's first electric p o w e r plant

which they later sold to the c i t y of Argenta (nm- called the N o r t h Little Rock Electric Company). The brothers also built the f irst ice factory in Argenta and opened a private bank called Faucette Brothers (later r e n a ~ s d the Twin C i t y Bank) at 405 Main Street. '

"The story of the city of Argenta begins and ends with the Paucette I

brothers, William C. and James Peter," who first arrived from Mississippi at the swampy sett lement of Argenta in 1878 when William was thirteen and I James was eleven, In 1885, both men sett led in the 'city of lakes,' 2 a farming village inhabited by 600 people withuut any Scm of municipal government

ir except a constable and several just ices of the peace-3 Although Argenta i did boast a post office, there were no street lights and no paved streets, i only plank sidewalks; there existed no water and. sewage systems, no police I department and no Eire department, w i t h volunteer forces and a local bucket brigade to handle such contingencies.- -Both brothers would be i n s t m e n t a l

I !

in establishing Argenta as a - c i t y and in malding its future koth politically and economically, Both m e n wou>d also serve three , terms as rayor of the city they helged to build..

The Cairo and Fulton Railroad (now the Irissouri Pacif ic) biad their shops on t he n o r t h side of the Arkansas River with access to LZlittle Rock £ram the south only by the Baring Cross Railroad Bridge. The Faucette brothers worked as engineers on t he railroad until. 1890 when they purchased frmn the L i t t l e Rock and Memphis Railway Company L o t f6, Block 30 in the tm of Argenta, a peiee of property iacated on the NE comer of Newton Avenue and Beulah Streets [now Main and 4 t h Streets). On this 25' x 90' - site, the brothers buil t a rectangular two-story struetur& with a res- taurant-saloon on the ground floor and a rooming house for railroad men on the second floor, The t w o brothers purchased a generator and installed the first electric lights in Argenta at this same location.

I

Fmm MQ 19-3Wa l U w 10-741

LNITEUSTATES DEPARTMEhTOFf HE INTERIOR --

NATIONAL PARK SERVlCE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HSTORIC PIACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM

ITEM NUMBER 8 PAGE I CONTI NUATIOM SHEET ! '

Also in 1890, the aspiring community of Axgenta filed papers to incar- . porate; however, Little Rock, i t s affluent n e i g h h r across the river, quidk- ly responded by passing legislation to amex Argenta and thereupon made it the 8th Ward of L i t t l e Rock. W.C. Faucette even served as one of the two '

elected alderman to represent North Litt le Rock after the annexation. I

1

"The Fauce t t e brothers fought against {this l annexation of Argenta by Little Rock in 1890 and lost. It was t h i r t een years later when, ( the t w c compatriots) instigated legislation that enabled the 8th (lard north of the river to establish itself independently .-"4 W .C. TFaucette was ' elected to ' 1

the state legislature in 1902 to introduce the innocent looking Hoxie- Walnut Ridge Bill, actual ly a clever plan he devised for separating Forth-' 3- A

Little Rock f r o m Little Rock which was dram up by James P. Clarke, later U. S. %tor, Once this goal was accomplished, W i l l Faucette was elected f i r s t mayor of N o r t h Little Rock in 1904 and the city's name reverted back to Argenta. It was the Faucette Brothers ' Bank that financed the fledging city's payroll until revenues were collected to s-bppert city employees.

1 . - I

W i l l served as mayor u n t i l 1909 and his brother J i m , t he third mayor of I N o r t h Little Rock, served as mayor from 1911-1917. Althouqh K.C. Faucette had planned the City X a L i (- l isted on the Nat iona l Register of Bistor ic Places 8-6-TSj, he died before it was finished. His brother Jim would see it completed and I

Zedicated C i t y Hall to Will's i n i t i a t i v e and m e m o r y in t h e form of a bronze tablet. !

On January 17, 1930, J.P. Faucette acquired an additional 25' x 90' from the Choctaw Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad.Company and had trm additional s&re buildings built and attached to the original structure erected b 1891. It has remained in the Faucet te family f r o m 1891 until the present,

CONDlTlON CHECK ONE CHECK O M

-EXCELLENT ,OETEAIORATED -UNALTERED &ORIGINAL SITE

-GOOD ,RUINS XALTEAEO -MOVED OATF

,CINCXPOSEO X-FAIR

DESCRIBETHE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN1 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

The Faucette Building, located on T-lain Street in N o r t h Lit t le Rock, is E. xectangular mass stuccoed, commercial brick structure. The west (fronting %in) elevation is divided into three ,133 bays. The center bay contains t w q (2) windows, and the £larking bays contain one each. There is a single-story zddition on the east. The north addition and the first story of fhe west elevation are sheathed i n sheet metal and the area around entrance on sat elevation i s black ceramic tile. Windows on the west e l e v a t i o n are plate glass on the first story and double hung one over one (1/13 lights on the second. Windows on t he north and south elevations are irregularly placed and are boareed over.-.Theqxoof is f l a t with false parapets an the east and west.

The first floor of the interior has been altered w i t h pannelling. The second f l oo r has its original molding and light fixtures.

The original stair in the rear of the s t ruc ture is altered.

'

Edit~rs note : . *

The east {rear) elevation has a e a s t ixon f r o n t , somewhat hidden by the porch addit ion. It would appear that this is the or ig ina l f ron t of the building and faced the non-removed North Little Rock Railroad D e p o t . The structure was b u i l t as a cafe to service the depot.

See I t e m 9, page I. .- - L

GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY-?? a.~anone - acre UTM REFEAENCES

AM 1-1 1318I4t61116101 BW IU IL~. c [ O , j i A f T Y 7 , , I , NORTHING , I , , , , I

ZONE EASTlNG NORTHlNG

VERBAL BOUNDARY OESCRlPTlON DW u u

Lot 8 6 , Block 30 City of Argenta

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE CODE COUNTY CODE

STATE CODE COUP4TY CODE

FORM PREPARED BY NAME l TITLE

M r s . Piian D. Thaxton

Edited DATE . . Fresil M i l l e r , Sandra Taylor Smith STRRT & NUMBER TELEPHONE

Continental Building 371-2763 CITY OR TOWN STATE

Little Rock Arkansas

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION THE EVALUATED SlGNlFlCANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:

NATIONAL- STATE - LOCAL&

As the designated State Hastaric Preservation Officer far the National H ~storic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public taw 8 9-665). I hereby nominate this property far inclusion in the National Register and cersify that at h a s been wa luatd according ro the

criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service.

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE

TITLE DATE

FnF NPS USE ONLY V .

I . . . . .

.* 1 . . .

DATE . . - .

' . . - DATE

'ER .

I Form No 10-300a

1: & 'q fr$' iHev 10-741

Ci b11'EID STATES DEPARTMEKT OF THE 1 H E R 10R NATIONAL PARK SERVlCE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PIACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM

CONTI NUATFON SHEET * ITEM NUMBER 9 . PAGE 1

. . 1, Article: "Argenta - Birth of North L i t t l e Rock."

Evelyn K. Eubanks, Sunday News - A Dist inct ive Weekly Journal, Vol . X V I , Number 191, April 14, 1974.

2. Article : " J i m Fauce tte' Reminices on North Little Rock' s Early H i s t o r y . Homer Hendrickson, Arkansas Democrat, Vol. Nurriber

- - . . . . 3. Hendrickson , above.

. -

4. O b i t u a r y - Arkansas Gazette -

HISTORIC .PRESEWATION PROGRAM .. --: MarWIorn and Main : Littte Wrl, A?~ansos 7220 1 - -

-.<

, . . - .. -

3 . .

. . . .

- -- .. _. - hone: . .

. .

. , . . Pfrs . Mon D. Thaxton 5321 Centerwood .I .

Little Rock, Afi 72207 ... , .

Dear Mrs. Thaxton:

- -. -. - + <

Faucette Building - . .

North ~rit~e..~ck,'~uiaski a. -

The staff of the Arkansas Historic Pxesemation Pmqram js,preparing-a- . .. . .. . - National Register nomination for the above-captioned property which will be presented to the Arkansas S t a t e Review Cormnittee at their September 12 meeting. If approved, the nomination w i l l bz submitted to the National Register office in Washington f o r final consideration. - . - . . . .

. . .. . - -

The National Register of FEistorie places i s a listing of . -historic sites, . '

. - . . . . : . buil&gs, objects-and districts-.from all across t h e -&owtry--that are--- - -- -.- ----- worthy of presesvation. Entry in the National Reqister is an honor which places no obligation on a private owner. It Zoes, however, provide protection through commmt by the Advisory Council on Historic preservation

. - - f r o m federally .financed, assisted or l icensed projects that might affect - . . a Nat iona l Register pmpeSt:y.

On October 4, 1976, fhe President signed a Tax Reform A c t of which - . . . - - Section 2124 refers to tax incentives f o r historic properties. Enclosed -

. . . <

you w i l l find an information sheet on that tax act. .. . . . . - . . .. . - - . . - . .. . - . . . -

X f you have any questions concerning the program or this property's -

. . nomination, please contact Mike Shinn of our s t a f f .

- ..- . Enclosed are two copies of this letter. . Please complete .the form below, - . .- . .-- sign and return the original to our office- The copy is 'for your files. . We would appreciate receiving any coments you might have concerning t h e nomination of this property. If w e do not hear from you 3:ithL.n 30 days

. - . . your appxoval will be assumed. . . .

Sincerely,

a ~4 Barbara Woodard, Deputy Director Arkansas Historic Preserrration Program

I approve of the nominationf of the above propesky to the National Register of Historic Places ,i Y e s KO

Faucette Building North Little Rock, Arkansas August, 1978 Fsezil Miller I

Arkansas Historic Preservation Program viewed from the west I photo ff 1 1

!

1. Faucet te Building 2. North Little Rock, Arkansas 3 . August, 1978 4 . Frezil Miller 5. Arkansas His tor ic Preservation Program 6 . Viewed from the north 7. photo 2

1. Eaucette Buiding 2. Korth Little Rock, Arkansas 3. August, 1978 - ! 4. fresil !4iller I

5. Arkansas Historic Preservation Program t

6. viewed from the east t 7 . photo 9 4

1. Faucette Building 2. North L i t t l e Rock, Arkansas 3 . hugus t , 1978 ! 4. Frezil Miller 5. Arkansas His to r ic Preservation Program r 6 . viewed from t h e southeas t i 7. photo :! 3 I

Fauzette Building I

Yorth Little Rock, Arkansas I

August, 1978 . ,

Frezil Miller i

Arkansas Historic Preservation Program viewed from the northeast photo 8 5 I

Faucette Building North L i t t l e Rock, Arkansas August, 1978 F r e z i l Miller I

Arkansas H i s t o r i c Preservation Program detail o f cas t i r o n features on eas t elevation photo ! 6