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EL DORADO, UNION COUNTY
1879 - 1953
SUMMARY
The El Dorado Commercial Historic District consists of sixty-nine buildings and one monument situated on the principal streets and their arteries surrounding the four-story Classical Revival style Union County Courthouse. Of the total number of properties in the proposed historic district, forty, or 67% contribute to the historic significance of the district. Six buildings and a monument in the proposed district are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places- Union County Courthouse and Confederate Monument. the Exchange Bank, Bank of Commerce. Masonic Hall. the Griffin Auto Company Building, and the Rialto Theater. Construction dates of the buildings in the district span the period from the late 19th century to the early 1950s. A majority (5 1%) of the buildings in the district were constructed in the 1920s, the period of El Dorado's most prolific growth. Only four buildings in the district are less than fifty years old.

ELABORATION
The El Dorado Commercial Historic District is composed of sixty-nine brick and masonry early 20th century buildings and one monument. Although seventeen of the buildings were constructed prior to 1920, the overwhelming appearance of the district derives from the thirty-six buildings constructed in the I 920s, the period during which El Dorado experienced a surge in population as a result of the discovery of oil nearby. The centerpiece of the district is the Union County Courthouse, constructed in 1927-28 (NR 06-30-83). The courthouse is a four-story Classical Revival style building of cut limestone block. Located on the southwest corner of the courthouse lawn, at the intersection of Main and Washington Streets, is the El Dorado Confederate Monument (NR 04-26-96). Although the Exchange Bank at 214 N. Washington is a nine-story building and the Murphy Building at 200 E. Jefferson is seven stories tall, the majority of the buildings are one and two story brick structures with simple ornamentation in corbelled masonry or cast concrete ornament. There are six buildings and one monument in the district previously listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Several of the commercial structures making up the district have been altered at storefront level, but most buildings retain their original appearance in the upper level. Extensive renovation efforts in much of the district have restored the appearance of the streetscape of El Dorado's downtown commercial district to near 1930 appearance, the year by which 76% of the buildings in district had been constructed.

Late 19th Century Buildings
The oldest building in the district is the Reeves Store at 116 N. Washington. Originally constructed in 1879, the building has been remodeled a number of times during the 103 year tenure of the Reeves Store. Its present brick facade is a conjectural renovation to its original appearance. The building at 117 E. Main Street was constructed c. 1896, but its facade has also been reconstructed based on indications of its original appearance.

Early 20th Century Buildings: 1900-1920
Buildings at 111 and 115 E. Main are indicative of early twentieth-century commercial construction in El Dorado. These one-story brick buildings feature bands of brick corbelling in their parapets and are otherwise devoid of ornamentation. Similarly, buildings in the 100 blocks of E. Elm and N. Jefferson are brick vernacular versions of commercial construction in the first decades of the 1900s. The Bank of Commerce Building at 200 N. Washington was constructed in 1919. Its stylistic Neo- Classical details distinguish the building from the less ornate structures of this era.

1920s
Thirty-six of the buildings and the one monument in the district were constructed in El Dorado's period of prolific growth, the 1920s. The significant number of buildings built in this decade reflects the historic character of the city's boom following the discovery of oil nearby in 1921. Constructed to serve an explosion of population. the buildings also represent and reflect various architectural styles contemporaneously popular nationwide. Venetian Gothic and Art Deco details characterize the Exchange Bank Building at 214 N. Washington. One of the best examples of the Art Deco style in Arkansas is the Masonic Building at 1 06/1 08 N. Washington. Classical Revival detailing denotes the Rialto Theater at 117 E. Cedar. Other buildings constructed in the 1920s are simple one and two- story brick structures, often with tapestry brick or tile decoration.

1930s-1940s
Construction commercial buildings dramatically slowed in the 1930s. The U.S. Post Office and Federal Building was constructed in 1931 and the corner of Jackson and Main Streets. The three- story brick and concrete building is Classical Revival in style and was constructed at a cost of $383,000. Representative of the 1940s are two pockets of buildings on the 100 block of N. Jackson and the 300 block of E. Main Street. The buildings on E. Main Street feature storefronts covered in structural glass.

1950-1953
Construction of the Murphy Building at 200 N. Jefferson was begun in 1950 and completed in 1953. The six and 1/4 story building is an excellent example of commercial architecture in the post World War II era. A large room on the roof was constructed as a roof conference room and features walls of windows overlooking El Dorado's downtown.

After 1953
Only four structures in the El Dorado Commercial Historic District were constructed after 1953. The BanCorp South drive- through bank was built in the early 1 960s. An annex to the Murphy Oil Building was constructed at 210 E. Elm in 1964. The two brick buildings known as Union Square at 220 E. Washington were constructed in the mid I 990s and the historic railroad car was located on the property at the time of the buildings' construction.

Non-Contributing Buildings Twenty-three (23) buildings in the district are considered non-contributing. Of these four are not fifty years old. The remaining have had extensive alterations, disguising the buildings' ability to convey their historic appearance.

Integrity
The buildings located in the El Dorado Commercial Historic District retain their integrity and sense of historic place, as they comprise the core of downtown El Dorado. The majority (67%) of the sixty-nine buildings and one monument retain many of their design characteristics, materials, and historic features. and convey the historic workmanship associated with each. In addition to the large number of buildings in the district which have been renovated and returned to near historic appearance in the last two decades of the twentieth century, an aggressive streetscape project has produced an ambience with benches. street art, plantings, lending a festive and inviting air to the streets surrounding the Union County Courthouse. The sense of time and place conveyed by the historic buildings in the El Dorado Commercial Historic District represent the rich and colorful history of the "City of Gold".

Criteria A and C, Local Significance
SUMMARY
El Dorado, Arkansas, lies in the south central area of the state, halfway between the Mississippi River and Texas. The city is encircled by far-reaching forests of pine and hardwoods, and is within sight of the Louisiana border. A quiet county seat for three-quarters of a century, El Dorado saw the prophecy of its name realized in 1921 when oil gushed from a well drilled a mile to the west of the city. Beginning in 1921, the town dramatically changed, becoming the "oil capital" of Arkansas. Although a town existed prior to the 1921 discovery of oil, a majority of the sixty-nine buildings and one object in the El Dorado Commercial Historic District reflect the intense growth of the area during the prosperity of the 1920s. The centerpiece of the historic district is the imposing four-story Union County Courthouse, constructed in 1928 surrounded by four thoroughfares lined with commercial buildings. The wealth of El Dorado's oil boom is reflected in these buildings, comprising portions of thirteen blocks in the core of the city's historic commercial and governmental center.

ELABORATION
The El Dorado Commercial Historic District is comprised of sixty-nine buildings and one monument in the core of the city's downtown. Six properties in the district were previously listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Union County Courthouse (NR 6-30-83) and El Dorado Confederate Monument on its grounds (NR 04-26-96); the Masonic Temple at 106-108 North Washington (NR 04-12-01); the Exchange Bank Building at 200 N. Washington ~NR 12-16-86); the Bank of Commerce Building at 214 N. Washington (NR 03-25-82); the Rialto Theater at 113 F. Cedar (NR 08-21-86); and the Griffin Auto Company Building at 117 E. Locust ~NR 05-25-01). The district is strong in its historic presentation with forty-seven (47) or 67% of its properties contributing to the significance of the area.

Facing the 1928 Union County Courthouse, a four-story Classical Revival style structure situated on a full block in the center of downtown, the El Dorado Commercial Historic District includes sixty- nine buildings and one monument on portions of thirteen blocks surrounding and in the vicinity of the courthouse. Commercial buildings lining the streets around the courthouse are substantial brick structures, with the majority reflecting the period of El Dorado's most prolific growth following the discovery of oil nearby in 1921.

El Dorado, nicknamed the "oil capital of Arkansas" and the "City of Gold", is the largest urban area in south central Arkansas. Though its reputation and fame is linked to the discovery of vast petroleum resources in the area during the 1 920s, the city's history began long before the first derrick was erected.

Most historical accounts of the land that became Union County, Arkansas, begin November 1541, when famed Spanish explorer Hernado de Soto, accompanied by more than 500 men, marched into the area and established camp on a hill not far from what is now El Dorado. It was not until 1803 that the United States purchased Louisiana from the French, subsequently dividing it into two territories, Orleans and Louisiana. In 1812, the Louisiana Territory was reorganized as the Territory of Missouri of which what is now Arkansas was a part. The United States Congress named Arkansas a territory in 1819. In I 829, Union County was formed. The county's boundaries were vastly larger than the current ones, defined in 1852.

Although the bulk of the city's built environment derives from the period following discovery of oil in 1 921. El Dorado had enjoyed a long, though modest history before that time. According to local folklore. El Dorado was founded around 1 830 by Virginia-born Matthew F. Rainey whose wagon broke down in the area. Unable to travel any further, Rainey was forced to sell his goods on the spot. It is said that Rainey was so impressed by the local farmers' eagerness to buy that he sent for more goods and setup a store. Rainey was generally regarded as El Dorado's first citizen and the town's first businessman.

Most historical accounts define 1843 as the year that El Dorado was formally established. In August of that year, a county election was held to choose three men to serve as commissioners responsible for the selection of a centrally located place as the county seat. Earlier, Camden, a town fifty miles north, had served as a county seat and court was held in a local home there. By October 1843, the commissioners recommended their favored choice for a new centrally located county seat. It was 160 acres of land owned by Matthew Rainey. He deeded the 160 acres of land to the county, retaining four acres on which his cabin stood. Rainey recognized that the development of the town would be advantageous to his business interests. For the county, this 160-acre site was located on the east- west trail between Arkansas Post and Texarkana and the north-south route between central Arkansas and Louisiana. Of equal importance was the site's proximity to a major regional transportation artery, the Ouachita River.

The commissioners were authorized not only to select a site, but to "lay off into town lots the county site selected and to construct the necessary public buildings". The men were also granted the right to sell some town lots to cover the expense of getting the town into habitable condition. The 1843 plat of El Dorado was laid out in a grid fashion. The original town of El Dorado consisted of forty-nine lots; of these twenty-four encircled the courthouse square in successively larger rings. In 1844, the first courthouse, for which the construction contract called for only a roof and four walls, was built at a cost of two hundred dollars.

The 160-acre town site seemed imposing in 1845, but El Dorado was a "bare suggestion of a village" with few substantial buildings. In response to a growing population in 1846, $12,000 was allocated to build a new courthouse.

In the mid nineteenth century, El Dorado was essentially an agricultural community settled primarily by individuals who had migrated from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and the Carolinas, with an economic base in farming and to a lesser degree lumber operations. Popular crops included cotton, corn, sweet potatoes and peanuts. Timber, before the discovery of oil, was the county's most plentiful resource with forests of yellow pine, oak, gum and other hardwoods available.

During the 1 850s, El Dorado was a "well-to-do town becoming the cultural as well as the business center of the county." The modest prosperity of the town was evidenced by construction of homes and organization of local churches. A private school had been established in 1845 and a local news- paper, the El Dorado Union, had been published as early as 1849. Although no battles were fought in El Dorado or Union County during the Civil War, records indicate 1500 men volunteered for the Confederate cause, two-thirds of which never returned. Like so much of the beleaguered post-Civil War South, El Dorado was besieged by carpetbaggers and jayhawkers. Some efforts were made by the government to allay the citizens' anxieties such as the establishment of a military camp on the northern edge of the town for federal soldiers relocating to the area. It was mans' years before normalcy returned to Union County and county government could rid itself of the carpetbag exploiters.

The most significant event in latter years of the nineteenth century was the arrival of the railroad in 1891. Until the rail lines reached El Dorado, most goods were shipped by steamboat to the Ouachita River, and hauled to El Dorado by wagon. The railroad suddenly made the large marketplaces of Memphis, St. Louis and New Orleans easily accessible.

El Dorado's business district, at the beginning of the twentieth century, consisted of a number of general stores which catered to area farmers, offering agricultural products as well as staple and fancy groceries. The oldest extant building in the district is the Reeves Building at 11 6 N. Washington. The building, although remodeled a number of times. was constructed in 1 879 and served the community as a general goods store, later a department store, and was owned and operated by members of the Reeves family until 1982.

As described in a publication entitled "El Dorado and Her Advantages", in the early years of the twentieth century, the town was a bustling commercial center with a sound moral character. The publication stated, "There are no saloons to entice the young man from his studies, no dancing halls to divert the minds of young ladies from their work, no gambling dens to corrupt the morals of the boys. The moral and religious tone of the town is healthy... .we have a good town full of good people, good churches, good business advantages, and a good school." Another record of El Dorado by resident Violet McRae Giller in 1910 reported, "El Dorado was a very young town, with its small population in the process of accepting running water, electricity and sidewalks; yet there was an aristocratic vein running through its citizenry (with) the accent of Eastern schooling and the habit of intellectual and artistic pursuits."

Cultural life in early twentieth century El Dorado, Arkansas, was active with ladies' organizations such as the "Self-Culture Club" and "Musical Coterie of El Dorado". El Dorado in the early years of the twentieth century enjoyed many benefits attributable to its considerable number of wealthy citizens, whose wealth was amassed before the oil boom of the 1920s. Among these benefits were an arts center, library, auditorium and health care facilities. Many of the prosperous citizens constructed substantial homes which displayed their stature in the community. A few of these early homes still stand close to the downtown commercial district such as the Rainey-Newton House at 510 Jackson Street (NR 11-06-74).

Although the arrival of the railroad in 1891 signified the greatest growth of the city to date, it was the discovery of oil at the Busey Well on January 10, 1921, that caused startling and immediate change in the peaceful town of El Dorado. There had been oil-related activity in the area as early as 1914 when the first oil leases in Union County were sold for ten cents an acre. Most of the early oil production efforts were costly and unproductive.

The Busey Well, credited with securing El Dorado's place of prominence in American oil production was located two miles west of town. The well was financed by Dr. Samuel T. Busey and a consortium of local investors. A physician turned geologist, Busey and his wife arrived in El Dorado in late 1920, purchased a local hotel and made an agreement to resume drilling in an exploratory well that had been abandoned. Dr. Busey was convinced there was oil in the well. On Monday, January 10, 1921. when the well had been drilled to 2,233 feet, a small crowd of eager spectators gathered at the rig. Drilling had ceased and bailing operations had begun to try to bring in the well. In the late afternoon, as the bailer was being lifted from its sixth trip into the deep hole, a rumble from deep in the well was heard. The crowd and drilling crew moved back as the rumbling grew in intensity. shaking the derrick and the ground around it. Suddenly with a deafening roar, "a thick black column" of gas and oil and water shot out of the well drenching the crowd of spectators. The wind caught the spray of oil and water and spread it over the countryside to the town of El Dorado where clothes on Monday's wash lines dripped with oil. The black column of oil gushing through the derrick on the hill southwest of town was viewed by many citizens in El Dorado. The next morning unscheduled trains began to arrive in El Dorado carrying passengers who hurried off and disappeared into the town to seek their fortune. The Arkansas Gazette announced that five special trains would be ready to run daily from Little Rock to El Dorado. Twenty-two trains a day were soon running in and out of El Dorado. The state legislature, meeting in regular session at Little Rock, announced plans for a special legislative railway excursion to the new oil well. Within six days of the discovery of oil at the Busey Well, an air service was established between El Dorado and Shreveport, Louisiana.

The petroleum industry was still fledgling and there was little technical sophistication so that significant amounts of oil and gas were lost. The El Dorado oil boom, which was to inalterably change the city's future, began within forty-eight hours after the Busey well blew in. As described in one account. "...the streets...of the town were thronged with a seething mass of conglomerate humanity.. .diamonds and costly furs rubbed elbows with oil-spotted khaki..." The town was inundated with people who hurried to south Arkansas to find their fortune. El Dorado, Arkansas, became the destination of oil promoters, lease hounds, swindlers, beggars, prostitutes, experienced oil workers, and young men and women looking for a life off the farm. The rush of population overwhelmed El Dorado. Hotels in the town were taxed beyond capacity. The newly formed Chamber of Commerce appealed to citizens to provide lodging for the vast influx of people. Barber chairs for sleeping were rented for $2 a night and in desperation some people took over the Presbyterian Cemetery as a place to sleep. Tents and shacks sprang up overnight throughout town. Fires ravaged the city of several occasions and crime ran rampant. El Dorado's civic and political leaders were at a loss as to how to handle the situation at first, but eventually dealt with most of the problems that confronted them. They were aided in their efforts by the massive influx of capital drawn by the oil. In the span of just four years, El Dorado went from a town where chaos reigned and only four roads were paved to a cosmopolitan city filled with sprawling homes, a thriving business community, modern conveniences (including indoor plumbing and electricity in most homes and businesses), and an active social calendar, which included everything from opera to an amusement park.

At the end of the summer in 1921 more than 275 wells had been completed within a fifteen-mile radius of the city. Rapid population growth from less than three thousand to over 15,000 occurred in less than two years. In 1923 El Dorado boasted of 63 restaurants, 23 doctors, 32 hotels, 48 law firms, 59 oil companies, 13 independent oil investors, 13 oil operators and 22 oil production companies. Also listed in the 1923 City Directory were 84 groceries and countless boarding houses. By 1925 the population of El Dorado was recorded at over 30,000.

The excessive growth rapidly necessitated the development of an improved street system and central business district with an organized municipal administration and facilities. As the initial frenzy of the 1921 oil boom settled, the buildings in the business district surrounding the Union County Court- house began to be rebuilt, many due to fire. Commercial construction extended away from the square along Washington, Elm. Main and Jefferson Streets. Union County's first skyscraper was the eight story Exchange Building at 214 N. Washington, constructed in 1927. A new Union County courthouse was constructed in 1927-28, in part, to accommodate the large volume of deed and title transactions related to the oil boom. Although not located in the historic district boundaries, a new Art Deco style Municipal Building was constructed in 1927 at 204 N. West Avenue (NR 06-30-83). A three story United States Post Office and Federal building south of the courthouse square was constructed in 1931. Site selection of the city hail, county courthouse and the federal building was encouraged by a prominent citizen Joe K. Mahony who had an urban design vision for El Dorado. He wanted these buildings constructed along an axis to underscore their interrelated functions. Although rarely noticed today, Mr. Mahony's axial placement of these three important public buildings was realized.

According to census records. the population of El Dorado stabilized at 16,000 in 1930 from a re- corded high of 30,000 in 1925. El Dorado's economy faltered only briefly during the Great Depression of the 1930s and many men moved on to east Texas where oil had been discovered. Unlike much of the nation, El Dorado's economy was largely stable through the 1930s with a number of industries such as oil refineries, gasoline plants, cottons gins, bottling works and others remaining open for business during the national economic crises.

The 1940s were marked by industrial growth in El Dorado, notably the expansion of both the Root Petroleum and the Lion Oil Company refineries. Construction of headquarters for the Murphy Oil began in 1950 and an annex to the building constructed in 1964.

The economic base of El Dorado still relies on oil and timber and poultry production and chemical plants have added to the area's economic stability. The city's boundaries continue to expand. The downtown business district has experienced a massive renaissance with numerous restorations and renovations of the historic buildings. Occupancy rates in El Dorado's commercial core are high and the downtown remains an active center of government and commerce.

Statement of Significance The historic commercial district in downtown El Dorado remains an intact ensemble of early twentieth century commercial buildings. Architectural styles such as Classical Revival and Art Deco highlight this collection of vernacular commercial buildings. The El Dorado Commercial Historic District is being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its representation of the rapid growth and development of the city's downtown in the 1920s as a result of the discovery of oil nearby, and under Criterion C because of the significant linkage of historic resources that embody distinctive characteristics of particular architectural styles and periods of construction.

Bibliography
Arkansas Gazette. articles on the following dates: 23 November 1925: 22 ]une 1926: 19 June 1941 25 .lanuary 1959; 25 April 1956.

Arnold. George and Shea Hutchens Wilson. Then and Now: A Guide to Historic Union County. El Dorado, Arkansas: News-Times Publishing Co., 1994.

Buckalew, A.R. & R. B., "The Discovery of Oil in South Arkansas, 1920-1924". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. Vol XXXII] No.3 Autum 1974. City Directories oil] Dorado. Arkansas. 1920-1980.

"El Dorado and Her Advantages", Souvenir Annual Calendar. El Dorado. AR: Public High School. 1905.

Federal Writers' Project, The W.P.A. Guide to 1930s Arkansas. with new introduction by Elliott West, Lawrence, Kansas: University Press, 1987.

Franks, Kenny A. and Paul F. Lambert. Early Louisiana and Arkansas Oil: A Photographic History 1901-1946. College Station Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1982.

Green, Juanita Whitaker. "The History of Union County, Arkansas". Masters Thesis, Texas Christian University 1955.

Parker, J. Scott. "A Changing Landscape: Environmental Conditions and Consequences of the 1920s Union County Oil Boom" The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. LX No.1 Spring 2001.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of El Dorado, Arkansas, 1901, 1907, 1912, 1921, 1929.

Speed, Anne Wagner. "Historical and Architectural Overview: El Dorado, Arkansas" Prepared for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Fall 1984.

Form prepared by:
Sandra Taylor Smith
Little Rock
Edited by:
Wendy Perkins
National Register Historian
AHPP