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Fort Logan H. Roots Military Post Historic District
In 1847 Emsley and Charlotte Shillcutt purchased several hundred acres of land on and around Big Rock Mountain, and the area just south of the mountain along the Arkansas River became known as Shillcutt’s Bayou. Around 1870 Captain J. W. Martin planted a vineyard on the mountaintop. And although Colonel Thomas Lafferty owned the majority of the land around Big Rock by the mid-1870s, the area was still known locally as “the Shillcutt place.” Although the land changed hands several times, the area remained relatively undeveloped until 1887, when prominent Little Rock doctor E. V. Deuell joined with Colonel Lafferty to form the Mountain Park Cottage Site Improvement Company.
Dr. Deuell sought to capitalize on the beautiful views of the Arkansas River and the capital city as well as the cooler temperatures afforded by the mountain’s high elevation. On March 24, 1887, the Arkansas Gazette announced Deuell’s plan to build a summer resort on Big Rock. The entire 450-acre site would be known as Mountain Park, complete with a hotel, cottages, and scenic overlooks and trails. Construction of the “model hotel of the south for pleasure seekers” was underway by early April 1887, but it would not open until September of that year. The two-story, 30-room hotel featured long rows of windows on each elevation as well as a full-height, wrap-around porch. The hotel was accessed by a winding and somewhat dangerous road or by taking a boat to Shillcutt’s Bayou and hiking up a steep path to the top of Big Rock Mountain. Local residents enjoyed spending the day at Mountain Park, where the temperature was five to six degrees cooler than in Little Rock, and the view was “the grandest and most varied and comprehensive…in the state.” Overlooks with whimsical names like “Lover’s Terrace,” “The Bridal Altar,” “Castle Walls,” and “Garden of the Gods” further delighted visitors as they explored the trails in Mountain Park.
However, the pleasure seekers’ paradise known as Mountain Park only lasted a few years before Big Rock Mountain was chosen in 1893 as the site for the U.S. Army’s new military post. In an attempt to concentrate military troops in about a dozen large bases near reliable transportation routes (i.e. railroads), Commanding General of the Army John M. Schofield announced in 1890 the closure of several small military posts across the country, including the U.S. Arsenal at Ninth and Commerce streets in Little Rock. Thanks to the ingenuity and persuasiveness of Arkansas Senator James K. Jones, Representative William L. Terry, former Arkansas Governor Henry Rector, and Chairman of the Little Rock City Council’s Board of Improvement for the City Park District Colonel Logan H. Roots, a land swap was arranged in which the arsenal grounds were deeded to the City of Little Rock for use as a public park in exchange for 1,100 acres on and around Big Rock Mountain for the construction of one of the Army’s coveted new posts.
Congress initially appropriated $194,760 for the post’s construction, and work began on December 3, 1894. Not only did the project include the construction of buildings, it also required the installation of plumbing, water, and gas lines in addition to sewers and new roads. Many of the post’s original buildings were constructed around an 11.7-acre quasi-elliptical parade ground with a wonderful view of the Arkansas River and downtown Little Rock. Building 1, the original 130-man enlisted barracks, was the most prominent structure facing the parade ground. Completed in 1896, this red brick building was composed of a three-story central block with a hipped roof and cross-gable flanked by two-story hipped roof wings on either side. The central front-facing cross-gable was embellished with decorative brick corbelling and recessed brick panels. A two-story porch extended the full length of the building’s front façade, and each side elevation was decorated by a chimney. Like many of the fort’s original buildings, Building 1 exhibited some restrained elements of the Greek Revival style. Two mess hall/kitchen buildings (Buildings 2 and 4) as well as a lavatory (Building 3) were constructed in 1896 directly behind the barracks building.
Building 5, completed in 1896, was located just off the eastern end of the parade ground and served as the stockade. The building later became a canteen and library. Building 5 had a unique hipped roof topped by a square cupola and hipped-roof dormer with exposed rafter tails. The building’s one-story front porch and symmetrical façade provided a Greek Revival-style influence. Other buildings constructed in 1896 further northeast from the parade ground included a bakery; the Quartermaster and Commissary Storehouse; the 30-mule capacity Quartermaster Stables; a blacksmith, carpenter, and paint shop; and a powder magazine (Buildings 6, 7, 8, 16, and 18).
Building 11 was constructed in 1896 to serve as a 12-bed hospital. The two-story red brick building had two-story porches wrapping around all four sides. The porches originally featured “Y-shaped” porch supports characteristic of Victorian Stick-style architecture, but they were later replaced with slender round columns and a simple metal balustrade. Because fresh air and sunshine were important remedies around the turn of the twentieth century, patients were taken out on the porches regularly.
Three identical duplex officer’s quarters (Buildings 12, 13, and 14) were constructed in 1896 along a semi-private drive to the west of the parade ground. Each red brick building was cross-gabled with the front-facing gable dominating the front façade. A one-story porch extended across each front façade, and two pairs of rounded arch windows in the upper gable ends gave the buildings a Romanesque Revival influence. Building 15, a single-family officer’s dwelling, was also constructed in 1896 just to the east of Building 11.
Civil War veteran and prominent Little Rock businessman Colonel Logan H. Roots, who was instrumental in securing both the City Park and the new military post on Big Rock, died at his home on May 30, 1893, before the first phase of post construction was completed in 1896. However, an order issued in April 1897 by President William McKinley declared that Little Rock’s military post would be named Fort Logan H. Roots in his honor.
The onset of the Spanish-American War in 1898 halted construction at Fort Roots until 1905, with the exception of another duplex officer’s quarters and a fire station (Buildings 24 and 22). The fort’s second major building phase probably commenced as a result of the War Department’s focus on improved military planning and preparedness following the Spanish-American War. The 1905-1907 construction phase included an administration building, post exchange and gymnasium, two 65-man barracks each with a mess hall/kitchen and lavatory, commanding officer’s quarters with garage, and 9-man bachelor officer’s quarters (Buildings 32-41 and 54). These buildings closely resembled the 1896 structures and were constructed around the parade ground.
Between 1912 and 1916 political upheaval in Mexico coupled with Pancho Villa’s raids along the U.S.-Mexican border necessitated the training and mobilization of troops at Fort Roots. However, after the U.S. declared war on Germany on April 5, 1917, entering World War I, military officials soon realized that the 1,100-acre Fort Roots was not sufficient to train the increased number of troops required for this global conflict. The War Department sought to establish larger training facilities and on June 17, 1917, again selected Little Rock as the site for a post. The new facility, called Camp Pike, was easier to access and accommodated a larger number of men. Camp Pike was ready to accept soldiers by September 1917, effectively replacing Fort Roots as the major military training facility.
Even during its tenure as a military training facility, Fort Roots always maintained a hospital, and during the 1918 influenza epidemic, a barracks was converted to a hospital ward to accommodate the increased patient load. Therefore, it made sense for the fort to be transferred in 1921 to the Public Health Service for use as a veterans’ hospital. On April 29, 1922, Executive Order No. 3669 placed Fort Roots under the control of the newly-established Veterans Bureau. In 1930 the Veterans Bureau became part of a more expansive department called the Veterans Administration. Today Fort Roots remains an important part of the Veterans Health Administration, serving veterans in Arkansas and surrounding states. Although Fort Roots has been reduced in acreage over the years, and buildings have come and gone, many of the post’s early structures still circle the parade ground, serving as reminders of the fort’s military roots. The Fort Logan H. Roots Military Post Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 4, 1974.
For more information on National Register properties in Arkansas, visit the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program website at www.arkansaspreservation.org . |
BUILDING #1 - 1900
BUILDING #11 - 1905
BUILDING #37 - 1908
Photo's Compliments of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program |
