Historic Arkansas Museum
Description
The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) furnished the labor for the restoration of the last territorial capitol grounds of Arkansas, during the latter years of the Great Depression.
The site now houses the Historic Arkansas Museum. The institution states on its website: “[Louise] Loughborough began a one-woman campaign to save the block, lobbying the Arkansas Legislature for funding to restore the buildings and have them preserved as the Arkansas Territorial Restoration. The museum formally opened in July 1941.”
In 1940 the WPA wrote: “This project, located in the downtown business district, has restored the grounds and buildings of the last territorial capitol of Arkansas. Sponsored by a specially appointed State commission, it is expected to be one of the most popular visiting points for visitors to the city.”
Source notes
National Archives: Record Group 69; Entry 755: "Best Project Reports, 1940." https://www.historicarkansas.org/About/our-beginnings
Project originally submitted by Evan Kalish on June 27, 2016.
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