Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 04/07/10

SUMMARY

The St. Paul Methodist Church and Cemetery are being submitted for inclusion to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places, under Criteria A, due to the role that it has played in the religious and social life of the people of Gravel Hill and the surrounding community. The church has incurred some alterations throughout the years that preclude it from being eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Also contributing to the church’s significance is the adjacent St. Paul Methodist Cemetery that dates to at least 1894. The church and cemetery are being nominated with local significance, under Criterion A and Criteria Consideration A with a period of significance that spans 1894 to 1960.

ELABORATION

The nominated church, St. Paul Methodist Church, is located in the rural community of Gravel Hill, in Pope County, Arkansas. It is an equal distance from both Dover and Russellville, Arkansas. The church’s importance to the community predates the existing building, dating back to before the Civil War. The general area surrounding the church is significant in territorial, state, and United States history.

POPE COUNTY
Pope County is situated in the west central part of Arkansas, on the north side of the Arkansas River. The river serves as the county’s southern boundary. Newton and Searcy counties bound Pope County to the north and Johnson County boarders it on the west; whereas Yell County lies across the river and borders Pope County to the south.

The government formed Pope County on 2 November 1829, as the nineteenth county in the Territory of Arkansas; it was the first county carved from the old Cherokee Reservation. John Pope, the third territorial governor, served as the county’s namesake. It originally included all of present-day Pope County, Johnson and Yell counties, most of Logan County, and parts of Newton, Perry, and Scott counties. In 1842, after being moved a few times, the county seat was moved to Dover and a courthouse was erected.

Dover became a thriving community; this was due in part to the heavily traveled old stagecoach line that stretched from Clarksville to Clinton by way of Dover, Gravel Hill, and Glass Village. In May of 1853, Dover was the site of the first railroad meeting in the state of Arkansas. It was here that businessmen organized the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad Company. Plans for the railroad proceeded slowly and then became dormant at the advent of the Civil War.

The Civil War devastated Pope County. In 1865, bushwhackers burned the entire town of Dover to the ground; fortunately, the county records had been moved from Dover and hidden in a cave north of town. This foresight kept most of the documents safe and relatively intact.

GRAVEL HILL
The small community of Gravel Hill is located about 12 miles outside of Dover. According to the county census records, some of the earliest residents (1850s and 1860s) were farmers. Eventually, a few storekeepers, ministers, and teachers settled in the community. The people of Gravel Hill constructed the first church circa 1850, the first schoolhouse in 1868, and the first store circa 1900. It was not until 1910, that Gravel Hill received its first and only post office, named Gip. Gravel Hill also became one of the communities in Arkansas to host United Confederate Veteran reunions (UCV, est. 1889).

In 1892, a meeting of the veterans was held in the Pope County Courthouse and it was decided that a campground would be constructed and named Ben T. Embry Camp No. 997. Buildings were eventually erected around the arbor for use as a campground for veterans. The annual reunion was one of the group’s major projects, and towns across the country vied to host the event. Gravel Hill was one of the communities selected to host the reunions. Being one of the selected communities, gave Gravel Hill significance in the state of Arkansas. Veterans arrived in uniform and found that the community had made extensive preparation well in advance. In later years, the Arkansas Polytechnic College band performed at the reunion, playing patriotic music, and, in between programs, all of the participants picnicked and visited.

Early Church History
(The Methodist Episcopal Church South, ca. 1850 & The Methodist Episcopal Church [North], ca. 1885)The Methodist Episcopal Church South was built circa 1850; this is one of the parent churches to the nominated church. The original building was a frame structure. The building was located in the general area where the “open air arbor” stood (the arbor was relocated to Gravel Hill from Davis Chapel in 1855). This area also had a large copper spring that was an important water source for the community. Although no written account has been found, it is assumed that the first church building was destroyed in the Civil War. After the War, the congregation held church in the arbor. In 1868, also near the arbor, the people built a schoolhouse for the children of Gravel Hill. It was named district eight in Pope County. By 1874, there were fifty schools in operation in Pope County.

The second parent church of our nominated church was the Methodist Episcopal Church North built around 1885. The name on the church sign was St. Paul Methodist Church. There were four men who were prominent in the community and instrumental in the establishment and construction of the church: Allen Bowden, Alfred Skelton, and brothers Fayette and Walt Brashears. Allen Bowden was a Methodist minister whose father, John S. Bowden, served in the Arkansas Legislature for three terms. Reverend Bowden, was the first minister of St. Paul Methodist Church. Alfred Skelton was a farmer who had served in Company D, 56 Illinois Infantry, USA, in the Civil War. Fayette Brashears (Allen Bowden’s brother-in-law) was a colorful character and a sort of after-the-fact lawyer. Walter Brashears was a very prominent citizen, a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1868 and also a member of the Lower General Assembly that same year. President Arthur appointed him postmaster of Russellville. He resigned when Grover Cleveland was elected but was reappointed in 1889 by President Harrison.

These four men were instrumental in the construction of the frame church located on two acres donated by Reverend L. C. Obarr on a site situated farther from the arbor. Of the two acres Reverend Obarr donated, half of the land was to be used for the church and the other half was to be used for the cemetery that became known as St. Paul Cemetery. Fayette Brashears donated timber from his land to be used as lumber for the construction of the new church which was painted white. At this time, Sunday Schools were encouraged in every place where they could be started and maintained. Sunday schools became a source of prospective members for the church and were the primary church services when ministers were scarce, as they were in the South after the War. From 1900 to 1945, the church had nine ministers. It remained a community center. Weddings were held on Saturday nights, and singings were held on Sunday nights. Young couples often courted on horseback after the singing was over.

Present-day St. Paul Methodist Church
In 1945 St. Paul Methodist Church was torn down, and some wood was salvaged to be used in the new church building. In 1946, the current church building was built on the same site as the former church and it was constructed out of rusticated concrete blocks and lumber from the previous church building was used for the interior floors. From 1947-1983, nineteen ministers have served at St. Paul. During this time the church congregation grew as the baby-boomers came along. In 1985 a one-hundred-year history was written by Mr. Orvie Loveless. The document has helped to preserve the heritage of the church. In more modern times, the church has been used for girl scouts, for pie auctions, and other community activities in addition to church services. The present minister is Steve Lawrence who has been the minister for twenty years. Since 1985, the congregation has become smaller as the baby-boomers have scattered, but most of the present members of the church are descendants, spanning at least five generations, of those who started the church.

St. Paul Methodist Cemetery
Many of the descendants from the early congregations are buried in the adjacent cemetery. The cemetery has been in continuous use since 1894. The oldest extant marker dates to 1894 and marks the grave of to William C. Chambers, a Civil War soldier. Although, no written documentation exists, oral tradition states that some soldiers who were killed in the Civil War are buried here. If so, it is likely that they died in the skirmish at Dover on 25 March 1864, which involved an encounter with bushwhackers which resulted in the burning of much of Dover. At one time their graves were marked with fieldstones, however, those were removed in the mid 1900s to make the cemetery easier to maintain. The cemetery contributes to the church’s significance as an integral part of the religious and social heritage of the Gravel Hill community.

SIGNIFICANCE

The history associated with the St. Paul Methodist Church congregation dates back to the 1880s and is an integral part of the history of the Gravel Hill community. This history of some of the original settlers (late 1800s) is documented through the oldest burials in the adjacent St. Paul Methodist Church Cemetery. The church and cemetery that stand today and are being nominated for inclusion in the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion A and Criteria Consideration A represent the continuing religious significance of the St. Paul Methodist Church to the community of Gravel Hill. It is with local significance that this church and cemetery are being nominated, with a period of significance that spans 1894 to 1960.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bell, N. H., “90 Years of Public Schools in Pope County,” Atkins Chronicle, 13 May 1998.

Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891.

“Brief History of Pope County,” Pope County History, Volume II. Pope County Historical Association, 1981.

DuVall, Leland, Associate Editor of the Arkansas Gazette, letter to Cathryn Hitchcox, 18 Jan 1986.

Gravely, Ernestine Hudlow, “Gravel Hill Picnic Dates Back Almost to End of Civil War,”Atkins Chronicle, 24 Oct 1947.

Loveless, Orvie. One Hundred Year History of Gravel Hill Community and St. Paul Methodist Church, 1985.

Myers, Fay, “History of Gravel Hill,” Courier-Democrat, 27 Mar 1931.

Olson, Harriet Jane, ed., Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church 2000. Nashville, Tennessee: United Methodist Publishing House, 2000.

Tripp, Bob. “Pope County Towns & Communities & How They Were Named,” Pope County History, Volume I. Pope County Historical Association, 1979.

U. S. Census, 1850, 1860: Pope County, Arkansas.

West, D. Porter. Early History of Pope County. Published by David Vance, Pope County Historian.