Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 11/07/01
SUMMARY
Constructed in 1923, the Little House is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion C as the best example of a Craftsman bungalow in the small town of Dell in Mississippi County. The design of the home has been a key focal point in the community for over seventy-five years. The front porch was enclosed in the early 1970s making the house ineligible for the National Register. However, the change is reversible and therefore the house is being nominated to the Arkansas Register.
ELABORATION
Located ten miles south of Blytheville, the town of Dell was founded in 1898 when a post office and school were established on the Pemiscott Bayou (Dell Ditch). When the railroad came through in 1902, Dell was moved to a site closer to the rail. Originally, the railroad site was to have been called Rozell, but there was another Rozell in the county, so that name could not be used and the name Dell was chosen.
Dell was one of the major stops on the J.L.C.& E. The town at the turn of the century was mostly logging people. There was a lumber mill and a stave mill located in the community. As the loggers cleared out the timber, land began to be sold to farmers coming into the area primarily from Missouri and Mississippi. The influx began around 1916 and continued well into the 1920s. By the late 1920s, most of the timber had been cut and the logging operations and their employees had moved on. Farming was quickly becoming the main source of income as land was improved for crops.
The home was originally built in late 1923 and finished in early 1924 by Tommy A. Little and his wife Goldie. The Little family lived in the home for roughly two years until 1926 when they defaulted on the loan and went bankrupt. The house was then sold at auction.
One early leader in the community was Charles Armstrong. He served on the city council for many years, was secretary of Sparks Brothers Land Company, and served on the board of directors of the Dell Gin Co. He was also important to the religious community as a leader of the in Dell Methodist Church. In 1926, Charles and Carrie Mae Armstrong had five children and she was determined to buy her first home. According to family history, she stood in the driveway in the rain to outbid a number of men for the home when it was auctioned.
Charles passed away in 1930, and she ran the family farm and household in the Dell area until she remarried Ernest Nolan in 1942. Initially the family had slept downstairs and she boarded people in the upstairs area. Boarders included teachers and visitors to the Dell community. After Carrie Mae's death in June 1972, the house passed to Ernest Nolan, her second husband. After his death six months later in December 1972, the home went to her five children, one of which wanted the home and bought out the shares from her three sisters and one brother; all of who resided in the Dell community. The new owners were Marguerite and Bill Kerner.
William G. "Bill" Kermer passed away in March 1982 and left the home to his wife, Marguerite "Armstrong" Kerner, who had been a grade school teacher in the Blytheville and Dell communities for many years. She owned the home and took care of its needs until her death in March 2001.
The home is now owned by Marguerite's two daughters, Carolyn "Kerner" Fowler of Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Mary Virginia "Kerner" Presgrove of Cordova, Tennessee. They plan on keeping the home and opening its doors for public tours of the home that has been in their family for seventy-five years.
SIGNIFICANCE
With the exception of the front porch enclosure, the house has had very few alterations. Despite the alteration, this is the best example of a Craftsman bungalow in small community. The Little House is being nominated to the Arkansas Register with local significance under Criterion C as the best example of a Craftsman bungalow in Dell, Arkansas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dru King, author of work in progress on History of Dell, Arkansas.
Mississippi Country Courthouse Records. Book C-1, page 456 of the Deed Records at Blytheville, Arkansas.
http://architecture.about.com/arts/architecture/library/nbungalowplan-s-3049-vallonia.htm