PIONEER VILLAGE PROGRESS REPORT

By TONY YOUNG

Vice President, White County Historical Society

October 23, 2006

The old Randall log house from Moore Street will live again at Pioneer Village. Workers dismantled it last month and salvaged as many logs as possible. They were hauled to the Village on Higginson Road and stacked under the roof of the equipment shed, after the farm implements were temporarily moved back outside. There are probably enough logs to build a two-room house. Also, the bricks from the chimney and foundation piers were saved and are being cleaned by community service workers. Carpenters have resumed framing “Peggy’s Porch,” in honor of long-time Historical Society secretary Peggy Wisdom. This is on the south side of the Gordon log house at Pioneer Village. Rafters are up and an existing supply of used roof decking boards should be enough to do the job. Recent wildfires out west have caused many places to outlaw wooden shingles. They are hard to find and expensive. We are weighing the differences between putting on a tin roof or roll roofing that would be temporary until shingles are obtainable. When that approach was taken before, the house sat for seven years under a temporary roof before Walter Wisdom was commissioned to split and install wooden shingles. Preservation chairman Bill Leach is working to get rocks hauled in for the chimneys on the Gordon house and locate a stone mason. Some rocks have been donated by Pat Garner of Searcy, and other rocks were salvaged from the chimneys at Fairgrounds. When other volunteers attempted to make Pioneer Village a living history museum in 1995, some of the furnishings were placed in storage at Collison’s warehouse in Bald Knob, and they are still there 11 years later. Bill inspected these items recently and found them still in good condition and in the dry. Once the conservation workshop/storage house is secure, these items can be returned to the Village. There is also storage space that the city officials have graciously provided in the old Moore Street armory. A few items previously in the armory storage are now back in the Village. The Collison family has earned the gratitude of the Historical Society for providing storage for so long. Railroad historian Jim Wakefield of Little Rock has offered $2,000 in seed money to move a rare old M&NA railroad car to the Village. Although this is a distance of only about six blocks, the first bid on moving it was $5,000. Another $1,000 has been pledged. So with $3,000 committed, we are shopping for a less-expensive mover. Historical Society volunteers will continue trying to make this project happen, although the highest priority is to get the Gordon house shipshape. Planned future displays include a gristmill, blacksmith shop, livery stable, strawberry shed, cotton gin and a brush arbor or church. There is also a need to get a fence around the property. We have some chain link fence that the Fair Board gave us. One proposal is to put it across the back of the property and plant honeysuckle on it to create a screen between the Village and the softball fields. A rustic cedar picket fence that complements the old buildings is one proposal for the front side. This would last about 20 years with minimal maintenance. Another proposal is a decorative iron picket fence would provide more security. It is hoped these construction issues will be resolved soon so that we can accelerate our restoration and reopen the bigger and better Pioneer Village.

June 26, 2006

It has been several months since my last update on the restoration of Pioneer Village in Searcy.  Since that time, the depot has been leveled on its piers, tests have been done to determine the original interior colors, and many layers of paint have been scraped from the interior walls and ceilings.  Broken windowpanes have been replaced.  Sash cords have been replaced and counterweights reattached.  Railroad historian Jim Wakefield of Little Rock has learned that this depot was built by the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad in 1886, and then it became part of the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1917.  The missing partition between the depot agent’s office and the “Colored” waiting room would have been a solid wall with a door in the middle.  A wooden grill at the end near the stove allowed heat to pass to the rest of the building.  Part of this grill was found in the attic but we didn’t know what it was until Jim told us!  The outline of the partition is clearly visible on the floor, adjacent walls and ceiling.  The red-and-white exterior is probably close to the Missouri Pacific’s colors, however a black and white photograph from 1923 shows a light blending with darker trim.  I suspect the colors are reversed from the original MoPac scheme.  Much work remains on the depot.

While on the subject of railroads, Bill Leach, perhaps at my coaxing, has investigated the possibility of obtaining the green passenger railcar that sits on Oak Street across from Thompson’s Salvage Yard.  It is visible from the Beebe-Capps Expressway, especially now since the old feel mill has been torn down.  The car is very rough but would make a wonderful addition to our Village.  It is a combine car – part passenger coach and part railroad post office.  Jim Wakefield has investigated the car and says it is the last remaining piece of the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad.  He believes he knows what car it is but can’t find the serial numbers to confirm it.  If it’s what he thinks it is, M&NA purchased it used from the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad and it may date to about 1900 but could easily go back to the 1880s.  The original color may have been maroon.  Jim says he has seen cars in much worse shape restored and assures us that this one could be saved. The owner is willing to let us have it, and we have an offer of some money to move it.  Two questions are whether it can be moved for the available money and whether we have the manpower to restore it?  Bill is trying to get a price to move it.  Due to changes in the Department of Community Corrections, our community service workers are not as plentiful as they once were.  Those we have are committed to other projects at the Village.  Several men are interested in the project but, because of health, age or other commitments, are not able to do the physical work of restoring this car.  Aren’t there a few good men out there willing to take on this diamond in the rough?

In other projects, Bill is concentrating all his efforts on getting the Gordon House restored.  The bad logs have been reworked.  We have rocks donated for the chimneys, and County Judge Bob Parish has said he would get the County to haul them for us. Bill has located the son from the father-and-son team that built the chimneys in 1967 at the Fairgrounds.  This man is interested in doing the work for us again.  We have much material available on-site to rebuild the front porch, which is to be known as Peggy’s Porch in honor of Peggy Wisdom.  Some new material will be purchased with funds given in Peggy’s memory.  In the new Pioneer Village, smaller porches will also be added on either end to help protect the kitchen doors, with a handicap ramp planned at the west door, which is closest to the ground.  The kitchen will be moved to the east end of the back room nearest the well house.  Its porch will be big enough to do some demonstrating on.  The smokehouse has been moved from the Walker community and looks great sitting between the house and barn.

A little work has been done on the lean-to around the log barn that we moved from near Rosebud.  This project has bumped along on-again and off-again.  I’ve been tying up loose ends on several buildings and hope to move on to this one before summer’s end.  A second horse-drawn grader has been donated from the northern part of the county.  Rusty like the other one before we painted it, this one has a nameplate and serial number.  It’s a Russell Junior and application of a little oil allowed all the adjusting levers and wheels to move!  A search of the Internet provided several pictures and some information.  The grader was originally red, perhaps with black wheels.  A few traces of red paint remain in inside corners.  Another Russell Junior with a slightly lower serial number was dated to 1926-27, so ours is probably about 1927.  Russell eventually became part of the Caterpillar Corporation.  Our grader was last used by the local residents to plow themselves out from under the big snow of 1977.   They pulled it with a farm tractor.  Since that time, a large tree had grown up through the frame and had to be cut down to get the grader out.  Speaking of donated equipment, we have another drop rake and a two-row planter donated whenever we can get around to going after them.  One comes with a small barn or implement shed that the owner wants torn down.  Volunteers?

I’ve replaced a screen over a vent in the jail to keep the critters out and swept the dirt out.  Water hoses and other garden equipment have been evicted and the jail is finished.  We will probably come back later and put some roof paint on the tin.  I’ve finally gotten the handrail up on the store porch, worked on some battens that were split or missing, and I’ve made a plug for the attic access hole in the ceiling.  The door has some new trim and the latch has been fixed so it actually woks.  A few more items are needed to tighten the building in general, and it will be ready for furnishings.  I’ve almost finished building floor-to-ceiling shelving the entire length of the left wall as you enter.

            A shed has been constructed on the creek bank for the salt kettle display. WE should have the kettle moved in the near future.  I’m looking into signage to identify existing buildings and displays and to mark sites of planned future exhibits.  The Lewis Saw Shed is under roof.  The porch for the moonshine still is enclosed and parts of the still are in there.  The central lumber storage area is enclosed and much of our remaining salvaged lumber is in there.  The woodwright’s workshop area is still open. We thinned the pine trees along the creek last summer and this spring had a man with a portable sawmill cut the logs into boards which are now stacked and drying for siding the sawmill and blacksmith shops.  We really didn’t save anything over buying lumber but at least we can say the buildings were built with timber cut right off the land!

We’ve put baseboard in the schoolhouse to cover gaps between the floor and walls.  These still need to be painted as do the inside of the window sashes.   We still need to set posts to put the school up on.  The bell itself is still in my workshop waiting for a good wire brushing and a fresh coat of wrought iron black paint.  Several years of using the schoolhouse for our work headquarters have produced dirty handprints everywhere, especially around the doors.  These areas need a good washing and perhaps a little paint touch-up.  The electrical wiring update has a problem that still needs to be worked out before the power can be turned on in the  building.

The Master Gardeners have continued their work with the flowerbeds.  They have planted an herb garden behind the kitchen of the Gordon House and two willow oak trees in front of the house.  Some shrubs and a rose bush at the store porch dress it up a bit even if not quite historically accurate.

            Our plans are to finish what is started and get the Village opened again. We will have as much ready as there ever was at the Fairgrounds.  We hope to have a fall festival some time after the White County Fair but not to interfere with other fall festivals in the area.  Perhaps early October would be a good time.  This will give people a chance to see the new Pioneer Village and discuss plans for future exhibits or improving existing ones.  Look for a friends group to be launched in the near future.  Volunteers are always welcome.  Bring your tools, bring your skills, adopt an artifact or adopt a building.  Build a fence, roof a cabin, cane a chair seat, clean up an old plow – whatever interests you.   Or, just come by and share your memories of how things used to be.  New input can be helpful to those of us trying to make a historically accurate restoration.  We’ve learned a lot from those who just came by to visit and ended up telling about a certain piece that they were familiar with.  We work every Saturday morning except holidays and foul weather days.  I sometimes return in the afternoon or an evening to work on a project of special interest to me.  The Master Gardeners are out every Tuesday morning.  Other arrangements are possible.  Just give Bill or Tony a call.  You might even take a piece home to work on at your convenience.  Hoping to see you soon at the new Pioneer Village Living Museum!

UPDATE July 2005

March 1, 2004

A concrete floor has been poured in the north end of the pole barn and that section is being enclosed for storage. We have received a donation of crushed rock from County Judge Bob Parish for the remaining floor of the pole barn. One of our community service workers has access to a small bucket tractor to move it around inside the barn. Once it is spread, the farm machinery can be moved inside out of the weather.

The piers are finally finished under the depot! The house movers have been notified and will set the building down as soon as their schedule permits and the ground is dry enough to drive on. We have removed wallpaper, foam insulation board and linoleum from inside the baggage room. We’ve sanded through layers of paint in the waiting rooms and on the building’s exterior to determine original colors and are now in the process of scraping paint in the waiting rooms.

One of our community service workers has adopted the horse-drawn road grader as his project. He will clean it, replace the wooden tongue and operator’s platform and repaint it. It is rusty but a few remnants of paint indicate that it was originally black. Much of the old machinery was decorated with pin striping and fancy lettered names. There is no way to know if this machine ever had such decoration unless we find an old catalog picture. It will be just black for now.

We have staked out the location for a saw shed to house the buzz saw donated by the Lewis family. It will also house the two-man crosscut saws, a shaving horse and other woodwork displays. We plan on it being a pole barn 20x40 feet. The Lewis family has donated $1,000 to help build it. We are working up a list of construction materials and getting prices. Last summer, while looking at the saw rig, we discovered that the 6HP single-cylinder Witte engine is still free. We turned it all the way around. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get it running again! An identical engine was powering a grist mill at the Ozark Trail Festival in Heber Springs two years ago and was at Parker Pioneer Homestead’s fall homecoming the last two years. Its owner is willing to be a part of our festivals.

Behind the saw shed will be a small corner where we will display the whiskey still and plant bushes to "hide" it. Ironically, this arrangement of displays would place the still just across the creek from the jail. Theparts of thislarge still were under the back shed of the blacksmith shop at the fairgrounds but were never set up as a display. A much smaller one was displayed in the barn. The large copper boiler is in good shape but the two-stage condensation system is badly deteriorated and obviously hasn’t been used in many years. We intend to keep it that way. Sorry, folks – sheriff Pat Garrett wouldn’t want us to demonstrate cooking "the recipe" even for medicinal use.