EL DORADO — When a spokesperson called from the museum and asked if the family had any historical memorabilia, they had called the right family.
So far, Charlotte Abbott of El Dorado has uncovered several boxes of memories collected by her husband, John C. Abbott’s parents, John B. and Alice Abbott. And she’s now preparing copies of those items to be donated to a new museum in Stephens.
Alice Grayson Abbott grew up in Stephens and her father, P.C. “Clayte” Grayson and his brothers, Sam and Charlie Grayson, owned banks in Stephens and Magnolia. The Graysons were one of the pioneering families in Ouachita County, Charlotte Abbott said recently, while searching through old cigar boxes stuffed with cards, invitations, political signs and campaign buttons beginning in the early 1900s.
On a letter written to Alice found in the collection, the date was Dec. 24, 1928, when stamps were two cents each. Charlotte uncovered an invitation to attend the Arkansas Republican State Lincoln Day banquet at the Hotel Marion in Little Rock on Feb. 12, 1930. Tickets were $2 per plate and speakers included Franklin W. Fort, secretary of the Republican National Committee and member of Congress from New Jersey and Mrs. Bernie Babcock, author and “authority on the life and times of Lincoln.”
There was also a ticket to the Republican National Convention, dated June 1928, in Kansas City. The ticket was for “Guest - Garden, Good Third Day and only at north door number one.”
The late John B. Abbott, a well-known architect in this area, died Feb. 19, 2012. He had attended the University of Illinois and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He worked for Lion Oil in El Dorado for several years before starting his own architectural firm in 1936, which is still in business as CADM in El Dorado. Alice preceded him in death.
He was born in El Dorado in 1912, the son of Thomas Christopher and Mina Miller Abbott, and spent 50 years designing local buildings. His father was El Dorado’s superintendent of schools from 1909 to 1914 before moving to Camden and then Little Rock, where Abbott finished in the first graduating class of Central High School in Little Rock in 1927. He received his training in architecture at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana before returning to El Dorado in 1936 to start what is now CADM.
In 2008, the South Arkansas Historical Preservation Society established the John B. Abbott Award for Historic Preservation to honor the local architect for his many years of service as an architect and historical preservationist.
“This award will be given to individuals in our area who have shown the high level of excellence and dedication to historical preservation that Mr. Abbott has shown over the years,” said Diane Alderson, chairman of the foundation’s board of directors at that time.
During John B. Abbott’s nearly 50 years of designing buildings, he designed or re-designed almost every school building in Union County, in addition to numerous churches across South Arkansas.
His other architectural achievements include design of the 1940 WPA Gymnasium at what is now the campus of South Arkansas Community College and the 1946 design of Memorial Stadium.
He also designed the South Arkansas Regional Airport-Goodwin Field terminal, Lion Oil gas stations, the Royal Crown Cola Building, the News-Times remodel, the TAC House, the U.S. Post Office in Magnolia, the 1960 El Dorado High School, Hillsboro Street Church of Christ, the Racquet Club and Hudson Memorial Nursing Home.
In his later career in the 1970s, he worked closely with the South Arkansas Historical Foundation in the preservation of the historic John Newton House.
Dr. Ken Bridges, foundation board member and SouthArk history professor, said in 2008, “With Mr. Abbott’s dedication and expertise, many of the details and perhaps the entire property (Newton House) itself may have been lost to the ravages of time. He has not only created many of our local landmarks but ensured that they and others will be preserved for the future.”
The John B. Abbott award has been given annually since that time to recognize those in the community, either as individuals, businesses, or as organizations, who have made significant achievements in the field of historic preservation through restoration, advocacy, craftsmanship, or for a lifetime achievement of preservation.
The John B. Abbott Award for Historical Preservation in 2008 was established “for his incalculable contributions to architecture of our community and tireless efforts to educate the public about our architectural heritage,” according to a program celebrating Theodosia Murphy Nolan, the award’s first recipient, for her interest in and dedication to architecture.
Even into his 90s, Abbott remained active in the community, writing and advising historic preservation efforts and attending Kiwanis Club meetings where he was a member.
John B. Abbott worked hard to keep public officials on their toes, remembered Mike Dumas, who accounted numerous letters from Abbott concerning issues with the appearances of the Union County Courthouse and El Dorado City Hall in his years as a public servant.
Even following the architect’s retirement, Dumas said he wouldn’t have classified Abbott as “retired. John was very much involved even after he retired. I wouldn’t even say he retired, he stayed involved with our community and El Dorado has been extremely fortunate over the years to have John Abbott as an architect designing, but also keeping public officials aware of the needs of our public buildings,” he said.
“He (Abbott) gave each of us who have served with that board (South Arkansas Historical Preservation board) an appreciation for building technique, for integrity of style and workmanship of the artisans of our area at that time,” Alderson said. “He took every day with excitement and something new to learn. He was just an inspiration to everybody, to all of us and certainly to me.”
In 2002, South Arkansas Community College received funding from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council for the renovation and restoration of the school’s gymnasium, located at 300 S. West Ave. The gymnasium was constructed in 1939 and 1940 as part of the Works Progress Administration program to be used as a gym for El Dorado High School. Since then, it has been consistently used as an educational athletic facility.
Abbott worked as the original architect for construction of the gym. “The (WPA) application (for the construction of the gym) was put in in 1939,” John B. Abbott said.
“Most of the work was done in 1940. We worked nine months on construction and were working mostly with people who were unskilled,” John B. Abbott said after the funding was received for renovation.
He explained that the WPA was designed to give people jobs, and the laborers, most of whom had no experience, were paid 31 to 37 cents per hour for the project. “If you could hold a hammer, you were a carpenter,” he said.
John B. Abbott said that in 1940, the total cost of construction of the gym was a little more than $48,000. Of special note in the construction design are five three-hinged arch ceiling supports, visible inside the gym. He said the arches were the first of their kind in Arkansas. “The arches are made of laminated wood,” Abbott said. “The gym was the first structure in Arkansas to use laminated wood.”
The TAC House building at North West Avenue and Fifth Street, was designed in 1946, by Abbott at the request of the American Legion. When another site for the group became available, they turned the building over to Youth Services for use by the Teen Age Club. The former American Legion headquarters became known as the TAC House, a tradition which continues today.
At age 91, John B. Abbott said, “The original floor plan was drawn out for the upstairs area (at the TAC House) to be designated for public use,” he said. “The building is sturdy, it’s made of reinforced concrete walls which are at least 10 inches thick … it provides the community with a total of 10,750 square feet of floor space.”
Other items in the memory boxes included an envelope that at one time held “stadium” negatives, developed at Sims Studio, which was located on the east side of the Union County Courthouse, over the New York Store, Charlotte Abbott said. The cost of the developing was 56 cents and the store’s phone number was 1831. The studio boasted, “in by 9 a.m., out by 5.”
Memorabilia collected by the Abbotts included several old license plates bearing the names of state and national candidates for various offices throughout the years.
A letter written to Miss Alice Priscilla Grayson, dated June 21, 1928 was from Gust S. Petros. He wrote that he had left Kansas City (during the Republican National Convention) on June 16 and, “I was very satisfied with the outcome of the convention. However, I was very sorry not to have you stay for the nomination of your favorite, Senator Curtis. You did miss something in not seeing Mr. Curtis get the nomination for vice-president. He had as big a demonstration as Mr. Hoover did. Of course, I know your going back so soon was because your father had to get back on business.”
“I like Ike,” “Let’s Back Ike and “vote for Roy Mitchell for Governor” campaign buttons and license plates that read “Rockefeller - Britt for Arkansas” and “Re-elect Eisenhower,” to name just a few, are part of the Abbott collection.
A flyer from the 1939 New York World’s Fair showed steamer fare for the Hudson River Day Line New York Harbor Sightseeing Cruise for $1.25. On the cruise, tourists would see “war vessels which may be in port,” Grant’s Tomb, the George Washington Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Rikers Islands and the Brooklyn Bridge, to name a few sights to see on the cruise.
The Abbott collection also includes a food stamp bearing the name of Dave Lockhart for ribbon cane, a “tooth puller” and a foto reel.