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U.S. Arsenal Building
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Tower Building
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| Location: | Little Rock, Arkansas |
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| Built: | 1838 |
| Architect: | John Warmley Walker |
| Governing body: | Local |
| NRHP Reference#: | 70000127 |
| Added to NRHP: | July 28, 1970[1] |
The Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal, also known as U.S. Arsenal Building, is a building located in MacArthur Park in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. Built in 1840, it was part of Little Rock's first military installation. Since its decommissioning, The Tower Building has housed two museums. It was home to the Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities from 1942 to 1997 and the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History since 2001. It has also been the headquarters of the Little Rock Æsthetic Club since 1894.
The building receives its name from its distinct octagonal tower.[2] Besides being the last remaining structure of the original Little Rock Arsenal and one of the oldest buildings in central Arkansas, it was also the birthplace of General Douglas MacArthur, who became the supreme commander of US forces in the South Pacific during World War II. It was also the starting place of the Camden Expedition.[3]
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The arsenal was constructed at the request of Governor Elias Nelson Conway in response to the perceived dangers of frontier life and fears of the many Native Americans who were passing through the state on their way to the newly established Oklahoma Territory. Thirty-six acres were appropriated on the outskirts of Little Rock by Major Robert B. Lee of the U.S. Army. The land had been previously used as a racetrack by the local jockey club. John Wormley Walker, a builder for the Federal Government, supervised the construction. Originally $14,000 was allocated for the construction of the arsenal, but proved inadequate. The budget was later increased to $30,000. Work began on the Tower Building in 1840, and it was the first permanent structure of the arsenal to be built. Being originally constructed to store ammunition, the building was designed with 3-foot-thick (0.91 m) exterior walls. The original plans called for it to be built of stone, however, masonry was used instead. The Arkansas Gazette referred to the structure as "A splendid specimen of masonry".[2]
For several years the arsenal, which was owned by the federal government, served as a simple arms depot and was staffed with only a handful of soldiers. But in November 1860, with the Civil War on the horizon, a company of the Second United States Artillery, consisting of sixty-five men, was transferred to Little Rock under the command of Captain James Totten. On January 15, 1861, the state legislature decided to hold a referendum to determine if a state convention should be held to consider the issue of secession and to elect delegates to such a convention. It was planned for February 18; however, events at the arsenal, would not wait. On January 28, then Governor Henry Massey Rector informed Captain Totten that he and his soldiers would be "permitted to remain in the possession of the Federal officers until the State, by authority of the people, shall have determined to sever their connection with the General Government," Totten responded to this by telling the Governor that his orders came from the United States Government and began a desperate but ultimately futile dispatch of letters and telegrams asking for reinforcements, although rumors were widely spread that they were already coming. The first telegraph wire to span between Little Rock and Memphis had recently been completed. Local attorney John M Harrel was asked to compose the first telegraph dispatched from Arkansas's capital. In his message, Harrel reported unconfirmed rumors that more federal troops had been sent to reinforce the Little Rock Arsenal.[4]
The United States troops at the outposts of the western frontier of the state and in the Indian nation have all been recalled from winter quarters to reinforce the garrison at Fort Smith. The garrison at Fort Smith had been previously transferred to the United States Arsenal in this city (Little Rock). The arsenal is one of the richest depositories of military stores in the United States and is supposed to be the ultimate destination of the tropps[sic]ordered from the frontier.[4]
- -John M Harrel Telegram, January 31, 1861
The item was intended simply as a piece of news, but telegraph lines quickly spread the news throughout the state, fueling procession sentiment. The rumor was interpreted by some Arkansans as a call from the governor to assemble to help expel the federal troops from the arsenal. By February 5, six militia units, consisting of 1,000 men, with a guarantee that the numbers could be increased to 5,000 if the situations deemed it necessary, had assembled in Little Rock. Governor Rector vehemently denied ordering the troops to assemble or giving any order at all in connection with the troops. Faced with the fact that the military had assembled believing they were following his orders and the consensus of the citizens of Little Rock against any armed conflict between the civilian army and federal troops, Governor Rector was forced to take control of the situation.[4] On February 6, he sent a formal demand for surrender of the arsenal to Captain Totten,
This movement is prompted by the feeling that pervades the citizens of this State that in the present emergency the arms and munitions of war in the Arsenal should be under the control of the State authorities, in order to their security. This movement, although not authorized by me, has assumed such an aspect that it becomes my duty, as the executive of this Sate, to interpose my official authority to prevent a collision between the people of the State and the Federal troops under your command. I therefore demand in the name of the State the delivery of the possession of the Arsenal and munitions of war under your charge to the State authorities, to be held subject to the action of the convention to be held on the 4th of March next.[4]
Perhaps because Abraham Lincoln had not yet been inaugurated as President, Captain Totten received no instructions from his superiors and was forced to withdraw his troops. He agreed to surrender the arsenal as long as the governor agreed to three provisions:
On the morning of February 8, 1861, Rector and Totten signed an agreement placing the arsenal in the hands of state officials. That afternoon, the citizen militia marched to the arsenal with Governor Rector at its head. All of the federal troops had left at this point, except Totten who had stayed behind to listen to the Governor's speech and to hand the arsenal over in person.
In 1864, after Arkansas had already fallen to the Union Army and the arsenal had been recaptured, General Fredrick Steele marched 8,500 troops from the arsenal beginning the Camden Expedition.[3]
The arsenal was briefly seized once more by Joseph Brooks loyalists during the Brooks-Baxter War of 1874.[5]
In 1873, the building was renamed Little Rock Barracks and used as a barracks for married officers and their families. The building was drastically altered the inside and outside. Prior to renovation, a rear basement door provided the only entrance to the building, while the tower served as a hoist to move munitions between floors. By 1868, front and rear porches had been added to the building, as well as interior walls and stairs, some of which remain today, including the central staircase. In 1880, Douglas MacArthur was born on the northwest upper floor of this building while his father, Captain Arthur MacArthur, was stationed there.[6]
In the 1880s, the federal government began closing many small arsenals around the country in favor of smaller ones built near railroads for quick deployment. The arsenal commander received word from Washington that the Little Rock site must be abandoned "not later than October 1, 1890."[6] On April 12, 1893 the tower building and the surrounding buildings were traded to the city of Little Rock for 1,000 acres (4 km²) in North Little Rock under the condition that the building and land be "forever exclusively devoted to the uses and purposes of a public park" for 1,000 acres (4 km²) in Big Rock Mountain on the north side of the Arkansas River, present day North Little Rock. That site later became Fort Logan H. Roots. All of the original buildings surrounding the Tower Building were demolished.[7]
In 1894 the Little Rock Æsthetic Club, one of the oldest women's societies west of the Mississippi River, moved into the Tower Building. This was prompted due to increased membership and a need for larger, more permanent quarters. The previous year, club members working with women's organizations throughout the state, raised money to furnish the Arkansas Building of the Columbian Exposition at The Chicago World's Fair. At the fair's conclusion, artifacts from the exhibit were displayed in the Tower Building, with the Æsthetic Club invited to meet in the "Columbian Room."[8]
Except for Æsthetic Club meetings, the Tower Building remained largely unoccupied for almost fifty years and suffered significant deterioration. The Æsthetic Club provided much-needed financial support during the period and even paid the electric bill during the Great Depression. The Æsthetic Club is still headquartered in the Tower Building.[8]
The building and the surrounding park were used for many public purposes throughout the early 20th century. The Tower Building served as headquarters for the United Confederate Veterans Reunion, May 15–18, 1911. Over 106,000[9] Civil War veterans, the largest popular gathering in the history of the city up to that time, attended and were housed in the building or camped in the park, which had also become a popular camping area. Later the building served as an armory for the Arkansas National Guard. In 1912, the second floor of the Tower Building became Little Rock's first public library. In 1917, Little Rock built a fire station in the park, that building is now gone. A band shell named for H. H. Foster also was built in the park during this time, but also no longer exists. In 1936, Works Progress Administration built the Museum of Fine Arts, now called the Arkansas Arts Center, just south of the Tower Building.[7]
The arsenal was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.[1] Due to its association with the Camden Expedition of 1864, the arsenal may be included in the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark designated in 1994.[10][11]
In 1942, the Tower Building was renovated due to the efforts of the Æsthetic Club, Little Rock philanthropist Frederick W. Allsop, and the Works Progress Administration. It became the new home of The Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities, which had been located in Little Rock City Hall. The museum remained in the tower building for approximately fifty-five years. The area surrounding the Tower Building had been known as Arsenal Park when the first decommissioned and then later renamed City Park. Due to the efforts of Bernie Babcock, however, the city finally named it MacArthur Park in 1942 in honor of Douglas MacArthur.[12]
In 1997, the Museum of Science and Natural History merged with the Little Rock Children's Museum, which had been located in Union Station, to form the Arkansas Museum of Discovery. The new museum was relocated to a historic building in the Little Rock River Market District. The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History opened on May 19, 2001 in the Tower Building. The new museum's goal is to educate and inform visitors about the military history of Arkansas, preserve the Tower Building, honor servicemen and servicewomen of the United States and commemorate the birthplace of Douglas MacArthur.[13]
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