Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 04/05/23

Summary

Built in 1929 in the town of Rison, the J.W. Calaway House embodies many of the historic fads of the 1920s, including a buff-colored brick exterior done in a Tudor Revival-style architecture and a ribbon driveway, and is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion C with local significance. The house showcases many of the characteristic elements of a Tudor Revival, specifically steeply pitched roofs and nested front gables. Several changes have been made to the exterior in the past 20 years, including the addition of vinyl siding over the original wood soffits and a carport to the south. Overall, the changes to the appearance of the house have been minor and do not detract from the house’s architectural merit. In addition to its architectural merits, the house is significant for its association with J. W. Calaway, a prominent pharmacist who owned a drug store in Rison from 1920 until the 1940s, when his daughter sold it and moved away. Calaway paid for R. E. Quinn, a local builder, to construct the house in 1928 and it was completed in 1929. The Calaways briefly moved away from Rison in 1935 but returned three years later.  The J. W. Calaway House, with its buff brick and nested gables, is a rare example of Tudor Revival architecture in Rison and is significant for its architecture and associations with the Calaway family.

History of the Property

European settlement in Cleveland County began in the 1830s, when explorer and surveyor John Harvie Marks purchased a tract of 5,320 acres in 1834.[1] Others soon followed, enticed by the large tracts of inexpensive - an acre going for as little as five cents in some cases - and fertile farmland along the Saline River.[2] Corn, cotton, and timber became the staple products of the area, and lumber mills operated throughout the heavily forested county.[3] Timber rose in importance between 1900 and 1930, though farmers continued to outnumber lumber mill workers in the U.S. Census records.[4]

The area was incorporated under the name Dorsey County in 1873, but the name was changed to Cleveland County in honor of President Grover Cleveland in 1885.[5] The county seat was originally in the town of Toledo where the residence of M. T. McGhee was bought for use as a courthouse. The structure burned down in 1889, prompting the county to reconsider Toledo’s fitness as the county seat. The most populous towns in the county, Rison, Kingsland, New Edinburgh, and Beasley’s Switch, entered into a competition to determine the next county seat. Rison and Kingsland contested each other’s nomination all the way to the state supreme court, where Rison was declared the winner in 1891.[6]

The town of Rison did not exist prior to 1882 and it owed its existence to the Texas and St. Louis Railroad. Samuel Fordyce had been tasked with surveying a route for the railroad from Texarkana, Miller County, to Birds Point, Missouri. The route passed through Cleveland County, and a station at Rison, named after Fordyce’s former banking partner, William Richard Rison, was created to service the railroad.[7] J. M. McMurtrey is credited as the first settler in the new town. His house, built in 1880, was restored and is currently on display at Pioneer Village along with six other historical homes.[8] The town grew to include a post office in 1883 and the Cleveland County Herald newspaper in 1888.[9] Many of the buildings in town were constructed of wood, and a devastating fire in 1906 wiped out most of the buildings along Main Street.[10]

Despite the fire, businesses soon rebuilt and by 1913, their number had grown to thirty-seven.[11] The town’s economic foundation continued to rely on the railroad as the means of shipping their cotton and lumber products, as the area around Rison had several large sawmills. The population of the town grew to 685 in 1920, and Rison attracted dozens of new settlers, including J. W. Calaway and his family. Calaway was trained as a pharmacist and he purchased the Rison Drug Store in 1920.[12] The drug store had a soda fountain and sold many types of medicines and became an important community location.

Calaway and his wife, Bessie, had three children, Helen, Charles Jasper, and Margaret Anne. When they first arrived in town, the family occupied a small residence opposite the school, but Calaway soon decided to build his own house. He purchased forty acres of land east of the town limits from the G. C. Attwood estate for $2,775, and he engaged the services of R. E. Quinn to build a house on the land in 1928.[13] Quinn had built one other house the previous year, but information about Quinn or his projects is absent.

The house was built to impress, with a brick veneer in a striking, buff-colored brick and a Tudor Revival front gable and articulated porch. The house became one of only four others to be constructed primarily of brick in the town.[14] In addition to the unusual Tudor Revival architecture, a rare sight in Rison, the house had indoor plumbing and hot water. In the 1920s, only 1% of American households had such luxuries, and the Calaway house became known for its modern amenities and stylish design.[15] Margaret Anne’s school friends often came to her house to use the shower before school functions, as they did not have the same amenities in their homes.[16]

Calaway continued to operate the drug store until 1935, when he bought another drug store in Conway, Arkansas, and briefly moved there. Even though the family had moved, they retained ownership of their home. Calaway and his family returned to Rison three years later in 1938 and Bess took over operation of the drug store. She converted it into a general store and ran it until the 1940s. Calaway sold his Conway drug store in the 1940s and moved to Louisiana, where he bought two other drug stores to continue his business.[17] The family eventually sold the house and it passed through a number of owners until it came to the current owners, Ryan and Diana Reed.

Statement of Significance

The J. W. Calaway House in Rison, Cleveland County, Arkansas, is a rare example of Tudor Revival architecture and 1920s building trends in the area. The front gable and articulated porch with steeply pitched roofs are indicative of a Tudor Revival, and many of the original windows and interior features are still present. Despite some alterations, such as the replacement of two grouped windows and the addition of the carport and deck, the house’s architectural merits are evident. Although there is a similar style house down the road at 406 E Magnolia Street, it was built in 1950, has less decoration, and is far smaller than the Calaway House.

As one of the oldest brick houses in Rison, it was designed to be a statement and to impress the residents of Rison, as well as be a modern, comfortable residence for the Calaway family. The ribbon driveway, brick veneer and color, and Tudor Revival architecture are indicative of the most popular building techniques in the early 20th century. The Calaway House is exemplary for its embodiment of American architectural trends in the 1920s, and as such it is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion C with local significance.

Bibliography

Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism. “Pioneer Village.” Accessed 05 Dec. 2022. Available at: https://www.arkansas.com/rison/points-interest/pioneer-village.

Buie, Rufus T., and Ben M. Elrod. “Rison (Cleveland County).” Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 05 Dec. 2022. Available at: https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/rison-854/.

Burlington Public Works. “Stormwater Friendly Driveways: Ribbon Driveways.” Accessed 01 Dec. 2022. Available at:

https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default/files/DPW/Stormwater/Driveways/05_Ribbon_driveways_20140102.pdf.

Beall, Christine. Masonry Design and Detailing: For Architects, Engineers, and Contractors. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1997.

Cleveland County Herald. (Rison, Ark.), 12 Feb. 1920. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050296/1920-02-12/ed-1/seq-5/>

Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society. Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006.

Huntington, Whitney Clark. Building Construction: Materials and Types of Construction. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1941.

Lucas, Rev. Silas Emmett. The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago, IL: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890.

Lutz, James D. “Lest We Forget, a Short History of Housing in the United States.” Accessed 06 Dec. 2022. Available at: https://www.aceee.org/files/proceedings/2004/data/papers/SS04_Panel1_Paper17.pdf.

McAlester, Virginia and Lee. “Eclectic Houses: Tudor.” In A Field Guide to American Houses. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1984.

Mitchell, Louise. “Cleveland County.” Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 05 Dec. 2022. Available at: https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/cleveland-county-757/#:~:text=Cleveland%20County%20was%20created%20on,to%20near%20the%20southeast%20corner.