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Delta Cultural Center to Host Fundraiser for Historic Moore-Hornor House
October 13, 2006
--The Delta Cultural Center will host a fundraiser for the historic Moore-Hornor House on Sunday, November 12. All proceeds from the event will go directly to the Moore-Hornor House Restoration Fund. Tickets for the event are $75 per person or $125 per couple and includes heavy hors d'oeuvres and drinks. The Moore-Hornor House is located at 323 Beech Street in historic downtown Helena.
The fundraiser will be held on the grounds of the historic Moore-Hornor House on Sunday, November 12, beginning at 6 p.m. The evening will feature a discussion of the Battle of Helena by Helena native Bobby Roberts, author of "Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Arkansas in the Civil War." In addition, a silent auction will be held inside the historic home, with all proceeds also benefiting the Moore-Hornor House Restoration Fund. Ticket holders will also be given a "first look" at the house, which has been undergoing restoration for the past several years.
During the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863, the backyard of the Moore-Hornor House became a battlefield. Graveyard Hill, which was the site of one of the bloodiest battles during the Battle of Helena, is located directly behind the house and slopes down to join the yard. During the skirmishes, Confederate forces were behind the Moore-Hornor House firing at the Gunboat Tyler, located to the east on the Mississippi River. During the chaos, two rifle shots went through the windows of the parlor, where they lodged in the sliding parlor doors. Those bullet holes can still be seen in the doors today.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this stately home is a wonderful example of asymmetrical Greek Revival and Italianate architecture within the Delta. Built in 1859 by Arthur Thompson, the home was purchased by Robert Caswell Moore in the early 1860s. R.C. Moore enlisted, along with 96 other residents of Helena, in the 13th Arkansas Regiment (C.S.A.) and fought as a young lieutenant at the battles of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Vicksburg and Franklin. Of the 96 men who left Helena in May 1861, R.C. Moore was one of the few to return four years later. John Sidney Hornor married R.C. Moore's daughter and, due to Moore's failing health, the Hornors moved into the home to care for him. They lived there until their deaths.
After belonging to the Moore and Hornor families for almost 120 years, the home was donated to the Delta Cultural Center by Robert Hornor in 1995. The Delta Cultural Center is in the process of completing restoration of the house using U.S. Department of Interior Guidelines for Restoration of Historc Places. In its new role as history-teller, the Moore-Hornor House will eventually share with its visitors a view of the past -- the spirit and way of life that shaped the Arkansas Delta.
All proceeds from the November 12 fundraiser will directly benefit the ongoing restoration of the Moore-Hornor House. Donations are being accepted from those who are unable to attend. For more information, to purchase tickets or to make a donation, please contact the Delta Cultural Center at (870) 338-4350 or (800) 358-0972.
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