Gerald Torrence
of the White County Historical Society captured this view of the
Campbell-Crisp-Grayson home at Bald Knob in 2001. The house was built in
1899 by Thomas J. Campbell for himself and his family. It remains
symbolic of the economic growth and prosperity experienced at Bald Knob after
the completion in 1888 of the Bald Knob - Memphis branch of the St. Louis, Iron
Mountain and Southern Railroad by its owner, Jay Gould. This branch made
Bald Knob a busy passenger and freight transfer point on the railroad and
singlehandedly transformed the town from a small whistle stop into a thriving
transportation hub. Though Thomas J. Campbell arrived in Bald Knob in
1890 as a conductor on passenger trains, he soon prospered in a variety of
business enterprises. He married in 1891, and tax records reveal that he
ran an unspecified small mercantile business by 1902. In 1904 he helped
incorporate the Bald Knob State Banka nd served that institution as both a
director and incorporator. He helped found the Bald Knob Strawberry
Company, Inc., in 1911, just after strawberries had becomea profitable
endeavor in parts of White County, and remained one of its shareholders until
the company dissolved in 1917. Finally, he opened a "picture
show" in the back of a building on Elm Street in Bald Knob in 1916.
The house was constructed by Newport Builders Supply and Hardware Company and
the architect is said to have been Charles Thompson, though no drawings survive
to verify this claim. Malvern brick was used for the three interior
courses of brick while the exterior brick is said to ahve been made on the
grounds. Its style is an unusual combination of the Romanesque Revival
and the Colonial Revival, though the massive arches and imposing square-headed
rectangular windows more strongly influence the overall character of this ddesign
than do the more delicate Classical details. As such it is certainly
unique in Bald Knob and one of the finest surviving Romanesque designs in White
County.