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.