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Home > Arkansas
Arkansas State Minerals Information (U.S. Geological Survey)
Arkansas GeoStor - An "online data delivery system that allows the user seamless access to digital map data (GeoData) of any area in Arkansas with no subscription fee."
Arkansas Novaculite: More Than a Whetstone, Lesson Plan by Julie Hill, Conway, Arkansas, 2001-2002 Butler Fellow. [PDF]
Geologic Map of Arkansas, presented by Andrew Alden.
Encyclopedia of Arkansas: History and Culture “The Encyclopedia of Arkansas is a free, authoritative source of information about the rich history, geography, and culture of Arkansas.”
Historical and Genealogical Societies, presented by the Arkansas Historical Commission.
Yale Peabody Museum: GNIS (Search the USGS Geographic Names Database)
"The first export of marble from Arkansas was in 1836, the year Arkansas became a state. A large block of Early Mississippian limestone was quarried near Marble Falls in Newton County and sent to Washington, D.C., to be used in the construction of the Washington Monument. Marble production has been intermittent throughout most of its commercial history, but in recent years the use of products made of Arkansas marble has steadily increased. Most current mining operations of commercial marble in Arkansas are located near Batesville, Independence County."
Please Note: The publications of the Arkansas Geological Commission listed below are available from the Arkansas Geological Commission in their Publications section of the web site.
“Arkansas. - Specimens of a fine, compact, brecciated steatite have been received at the museum from some 12 miles north of Benton, Salina County. The supply is stated to be abundant.”
A Location Guide for Rockhounds, (PDF) Collected by Robert C. Beste, PG, St. Louis, Missouri: Hobbitt Press, 2nd ed., December 1996, 148 pp. (Includes chapters on “Mineral Locations by State,” “Appendix and Glossary,” and “Bibliography.”)
The Technology of Marble Quarrying, U. S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 106, by Oliver Bowles, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916.
"On May 4, 1912 Bank of Eureka Springs was
issued a corporate certificate from the Office of the Secretary of 
State. The original banking location was at 75 Spring Street in the former Clark and Klock Building...In 1966 the McGinnis property was purchased at 70 South Main Street
and is where the main bank building now sits...The new buildingreflected the turn-of-the-century atmosphere of the town, incorporating motifs of earlier days...In 1978, the Board enlarged and remodeled the Bank. Taking note of the approaching Centennial of Eureka Springs in 1979, they chose to create the look of a truly historical Bank. The stone used was from the same quarry that had provided stone for many of the buildings in Eureka Springs."
Little Rock, Arkansas - State Capitol - Virtual Tour. The exterior of the Capitol and the columns are limestone, which was quarried in Batesville, Arkansas.
The house is located at 300 West 4th Street, and the house was built in 1906. In 1940 three fireplaces of Arkansas marble were added.
New York City, Missouri - the Dodge Building (Advertisement from Throvgh The Ages Magazine, November 1923, Vol. 1, No. 7, pp. 47.)
Phenix Marble Company, Kansas City, Missouri
Napoleon Gray and Other Marbles
In the Dodge Building, New York City, is one of the many examples of where Napoleon Gray has been used with other marbles. Here Shape, Bready & Feterkin, the architects, have covered the walls of the main and elevator entrances with Napoleon Gray to ceiling height. As a contrast, yet in harmony, a Batesville Marble floor bordered with Belgian Grand Antique has been used. Marble manufactured by Ital-American Marble Co. Napoleon Gray harmonizes with most marbles. We’d be glad to send you information or samples at any time that you request.
The National Park Service web site presents the memorial stones in placed in the interior of the Washington Monument. The Arkansas Memorial Stone entry reads as follows and can be viewed on the National Park Service’s web site in either the “Album” or the “Slide Show.”
The information and photograph of the stone from Alaska for the Washington Monument can found in “WAMO Stones Section 2.”
The Washington Monument web site has recently been redesigned. Below is an description that was available on the National Park Service web site in January 2008 that describes the Memorial Stones in the Washington Monument.
“A unique feature of the Washington Monument is the 193 memorial stones that adorn the interior of the monument. Starting in July 1848 the Washington National Monument Society invited states, cities and patriotic societies to contribute Memorial Stones. The Society listed some requirements to be followed. They asked that the stone be durable, a product of the state’s soil, and meet the following dimensions; four feet long, two feet high and 18 inches thick. These stones pay tribute to the character and achievements of George Washington. These traits are not only admired by Americans but by people the world over as seen by the number of stones donated by foreign countries. Below is a list of stones donated by state. In the near future all the stones will be online.
“While viewing the stones please keep in mind that the Washington Monument has undergone extensive renovation over the last three years. A key component of the project has been the restoration of the memorial stones. Over the years the stones have been damaged by moisture and vandalism. The pictures that follow show the condition of the stones before their restoration. In the upcoming months new images will be added highlighting the restored stones.”
The information and photograph of the stone from Alaska for the Washington Monument can found in “ WAMO Stones Section 2.”
Name: Arkansas
Level: 30-ft.
Donor: State of Arkansas
Dates: 1850/1850
Original material: limestone
Dimensions: 2’ x 4’
Sculptor/Carver: not known
Original inscription: Arkansas
Documented material history:
• 1849-50: In 1834 [sic] [Peter Beller], with the three Harp brothers, was commissioned to quarry a block of marble, six feet long, four feet wide and two feet thick for inclusion in the famed monument to the father of our country then being erected in the nation’s capitol. It was a difficult, tedious and time-consuming task in those days when quarrying had to be done with hand drills and wedges....The huge block of marble was eventually broken loose from Marble Mountain [near the town of Marble Falls]. Weighing about a ton, it was loaded onto a heavy sledge or stone-boat and skidded and hauled by a team of twenty oxen over the rough country of the Ozark and Boston mountains, a distance of about 50 miles, to the Arkansas River where it was shipped by barge to New Orleans and thence by sailing vessel to the Potomac basin where the Washington Monument was being erected.” [Victor A. Croley, “ Marble Falls Has Had Many Names,” Arkansas Gazette, March 23, 1969.]
• 1850: “The Arkansas Block of Marble for the Washington monument was shipped at Van Buren Dec 1. It weighs 2200 lbs, was contributed by citizens of several western counties, and when it reaches Washington Senator Borland will have it prepared, and the Arkansas arms cut in it at his own expense.” [The Sun (Baltimore), January 8, 1850.]
• 1850: “January 8, 1850 and February 12, 1850 from the Hon. Solon Borland of Arkansas stating that the block had been shipped....February 19, 1850 A letter was received from the I.S. Henderson Co. stating that the block from Arkansas had been forwarded from Baltimore.” [MR]
• 1850: “From Arkansas, a block of limestone of a brownish tint, the required dimensions, and the name of the State in large raised letters.” [DNI, August 7, 1850.]
• 1850s: “[Arkansas has] presented a block of native lime-stone somewhat variegated....” [RW]
Additional documented material information: Stone monument on west side of Scenic Highway 7 just across from Dogpatch (formerly Marble Falls), Arkansas: “This Marker Commemorates the Arkansas Marble in Washington’s Monument Taken by Beller and Harp Bros. from this Hill in 1836 [sic] This Marker Erected 1954 by Newton Co. History Society - W.F. Lackey Pres. Manda Hickman Sec.”
Images:
• 1850s Wilcox drawing
• 1880 Gedney drawing
• 1957 Allen photograph
• 1974 photograph
• 1980 photograph
• 2000 NPS slides
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