Mountain Home College Building

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Arkansas Register of Historic Places

The following criteria have been adopted by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) for the inclusion of properties in the Arkansas State Register of Historic places, the state’s official record of those properties, sites, structures, buildings, landscapes areas and objects significant in the history, architecture, and culture of the state of Arkansas and its communities. Arkansas Register listing constitutes a recognition of a particular property’s historic significance and in no way restricts or abridges the lawful owner’s right to use, modify or dispose of said property, although Arkansas Register listing may qualify the property owner for certain grant funds as they are available. The Arkansas Register is administered by the AHPP. While the AHPP nominates properties for Arkansas Register listing, private individuals and organizations and local governments often initiate the process and prepare the necessary documentation. A professional review board consisting of eleven individuals appointed by the Governor of Arkansas considers each property proposed for state listing and makes a recommendation on its eligibility.

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Property Listing Eligibility

Properties deemed eligible for inclusion in the Arkansas Register generally must be 50 years old or older, shall possess integrity of design materials, workmanship, feeling, and association and meet at least one of the following criteria:

Association with events of state or local historical significance; or
Association with the lives of persons of significance in the history of the state or locality; or
Represent a type, style or period of architecture; or
Association with important elements of Arkansas’s history or pre-history

Unlike the National Register, the Arkansas Register does not specifically preclude the nomination of commemorative properties, structures that have been moved from their original locations, and reconstructed buildings, nor does the inclusion require that eligible properties retain 51% of the historic integrity; any properties in the aforementioned categories might qualify for the State Register providing they meet at least one of the four criteria noted above. Buildings with non-historic synthetic siding may be deemed eligible for inclusion in the Arkansas State Register providing that criteria A, B, or C requirements can be satisfied. All historic places within the state listed in or nominated to the National Register will automatically be placed in the Arkansas Register.

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Mountain Home College Building

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Colonial RevivalStyle

Featured by: AHPP

Location: Mountain Home, Baxter, NE corner of College and 4th St.

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1894 college building remodeled in 1920 for use as dormitory

Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 03/06/96

SUMMARY

Located at the northeast corner of College and Fourth Street, the Mountain Home College Girls Dormitory was built in 1894 as the music hall for the fledgling Mountain Home College. Since that time the building has been undergone three distinct alterations. The original building consisted of a rectangular-plan, two-story structure constructed of load-bearing, regular-coursed, rough-face, cut limestone walls that were capped with a third-story, slate-covered mansard roof with two window dormers on each of the front and side elevations. Early photographs of the building also reveal a one-bay, central two-story Folk Victorian porch, two-over-two, double-hung windows, and a rear two-story frame section on piers. The front porch was later removed.

ELABORATION

On September 20, 1893, the Mountain Home College, sponsored by the White River Baptist Association, opened. Due to a larger than anticipated enrollment in music and art courses, the nominated structure was constructed in 1894 for use as a music hall. The two-story cut-limestone building with a mansard roof served in various capacities until 1920 when it was enlarged with the addition of two wings and refurbished for use as a girl’s dormitory. The college closed in 1933 and eventually all of the buildings except the Girls Dormitory and the Industrial Building were razed. Dr. W. T. Tipton converted the dormitory into a hospital, and in 1937, the Arkansas Baptist Executive Board deeded the college properties to H. D. Morton, a former president of the college. Morton's family operated a hotel and popular dining room in the dormitory for several years. During the construction of Norfork Dam in the early 1940's, the former dormitory was used to house some of the workers. Later, James McClure acquired the property and drastically remodelled the building for use as a funeral home. In 1983, Blackburn & Co., a real estate business, purchased the building, which is currently being used for their offices and rented apartments.

Due to the extensive alterations, the Mountain Home College Girls Dormitory in its current guise does not resemble either of its two known historic appearances and is therefore ineligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Under Criterion A, however, the former Girls Dormitory is eligible for listing in the Arkansas Register of Historic Places as the only surviving component from the historic Mountain Home College campus.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Information submitted by Charles Blackburn, Oct., Nov., 1985; Feb., Mar., July, Oct., 1986; Feb., Mar., 1987; Sep. 1995.

Messick, Mary Ann. A History of Baxter County. Mountain Home, Arkansas: Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce, 1973.

Wasson, Michele. "Gem of the Ozarks: A History of Mountain Home College, 1890-1934." Master's thesis, University of Arkansas, 1982.