BLOCATION

? 3 . > ~ . ?.i?EV.
'
:9n1Nc.
(9!?7)
60- 1 6 b - C I I O - - C ~ ~
@
..
' U:.''--'.,3 STA-I'SS DEPARTMENT OF 'THE ih'TERIOiZ
.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
N A * ( ? Q I A LREGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
?JVXPJTOXY-- MOMINATTON FORM
..<. . .--
.-
1
JRECEXEO
,,
,
, . l . .,,..
>q
----
..
.
. , ..
.
DATE ENTEREO
.-
.
O
'I II
I
-- :i
SEE INSTRUCTIONS 1 N HOW TO COMPLt3EPJATIONAL REGISTER FORMS
TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS
-
- ICLBEZiT PTK3 HDTEL
ANnlOR COMMON
/
1
I
--'y"::,
STREET& N U M B E R
-.,.
. .. -
Seventh and Scott
.
CITY. TOWN
L i t t l e 3tock
- .
...
.
-NOT
.
-
FOR PWBUC4TION
CONGRESSIONAL OlSTRlCT
mlaski
05
119
OWNERSHIP
~ O C PIED
C ~
~B?~~LDW~G~S)
XPFIIVATE
,UNOCCUP~E
,S~UCTURE
,BOTH
LWORX
PUSUC ACOUISITlON
IN
o
PHOGRFSS
ACCESSIBLE
XYE S: FIESTR~CTED
,YES:
u~ l a t s m ~ m o
J F I PROCESS
,BEING
CONSIPEREO
o
N,
CITY. TOWR
Littk
,COMMERC~AL
,PARK
-EDUCATIONAL
,PRIVATE
,ENfEFlTAlNMEMT
-RELIGlOUS
-GOVERNMENT
-SCIENTIFIC
-INDUSTRIAL
,TRANSPORTA11Qu
AILlfARY
XDTHEA-
F'
:I
RESIDENCE
,:
t
I
I
'!
Residence Hotel !
iII
I
I
---
I
+-------
STATE
- VlClPlrrY OF
Rock
BLOCATION
OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE.
UEClsTRY b F DEEOS.€Tt
cireui? clerk"
I
Pzkansas
!
office
STREET & NUMBER
-
Pulaski County Courthouse
CITY. TOWN
STATE
L i t t l e Rock
ha RREPRESENTA'IIONIN EXISTING SURVEYS
--
Arkansas
--
DATE
c.i .,.
DEPOSITORY FOFl
SURVEY RECORDS
CITY. TOWN
;
*, 'I
-MUSEUM
Church
Eighth and
-- S m t t
-.
:
I
AGRICULTURE
T ~ o w N E x OF PROPERTY
Second saptist
STREET & NUMBER
I
PRESENT USE
STATUS
,PUBUC
,OSIECT
1
:i
,DlSTRICT
E
'
1
~~{GLASSIPICATION
,Sf
"
CODE
COUNTY
CODE
CATEGORY
. .I
-second
,
.w~clnrnOF
STATF
-., Arkansas
.,:..
!
1
L
------
i
.--.+-
STATE
?
+
CONDlYlOIY
XEXCELLENT
JEERIORATEO
,UNALTERED
G
,
-RUINS
~LTEREQ
.-
DOD
,UNEXPOSED
-FAIR
-.
CHECKONE
". +
CHECK ONE
. IL
-
XOR~GINAE
SITE
ATOVED
D
A
L
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL ( f F KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE .
. ,
-
,
-.
..
- ..
..
..
.
The 175-room Albert Pike Hotel w a s erected in 1929. ,Itwas designed by archi t e c t , Eugene John S t e r n , in partnership-w i t h .George Il: ' Mann, architect of
t h e Arkansas S t a t e Capitol Building. The h o t e l is b u i l t in the Italian-spanish
Revival s t y l e 05 architecture and cost approximately $1,000,000 to e o n s k u c t .
.. . - .-
The basic fl m r plan is U-shaped.
The tko m a i n wings, eight stmkes in heiqht,
protrude to help enclose an open c o w t extending d b w e t h e first t w o stories.
The two eight-story wings are connected by a ten-story section- To?pFng the
structure are two towers, w h i c h house t h.-e elevator machinery, set at either
end of the roof an t h e east elevation. _?n the n o r t h aad south elevations and
on the facade of the two wings' are decorated
w h i c h extend a~proximzltely five feet above the roof line. The flat roof features slo2ing t i l e eaves. -
.
The facade of the Albert Pike Hotel is m a r k e d by a "cloister-type"' porch. The
multi-lite, triple-arched windows are flanked by the main entries. L o c a t e d
above' t h e s e entries are terra-cotta medallions, each 'featuring a heraldic shield
with the i n i t i a l s "AP." Other windows on t h e first f l o o r facade are decorative
in t h e i r utilization of cast s t o n e , Iqinaows are rectangular w i t h simple t r i m
abave the second-story l i n e . The tile eaves of the roof above-khe cloister
porch are supported by ornamental brackets w i t h p e d h e n t s in betweenAdjoining t h e hotel building on the east elevation is a two-story garage.
structure also em2loys the use of t h e tfle roof.
This
interior of t h e f i r s t two floors is almost entirely original and is in an
e x c e l l e n t s t a t e of presemation. The elaborate i n t e r i o r de'sign'includes detailed stenciling, leazed and stained-glass windows, extensive decorative t i l e
and iron work md. i n t r i c a t e l i g h t fixtures, Of special note is the c d f e r e d
ceiling in t h e large main lobby. Octagonal-shaped panels surround small
dimnond-shaped panels w i t h pendants. The multi-colored patterns (between
t h e raised plaster moldings) were applied with paint using separate stencils
The
f o r each color, T h e s e designs exem>lify a type af decoration popular i n the saco n d - M f o f t h e nineteenth century and early twentieth, Of special note a r e the
wood-?anel& ceilings in the north hallway. These ceilings feature painted
diamond panels projecting fmm t h e rich-grained wood.
Brass-paneled elevator doors are set into glazed tile walls. Ornately d e s i g n e d
glazed-tile is found frequently in the decoration of the i n t e r i o r s . Mosaic
tile floors are found throughout t h e f i r s t floor. A n o t h e r feature of note is
the landing on the stairway to t h e rnezzanin4 which is marked by a s o l i d railing
with t.m heraldic medallions set amcng intricate designs.
. ...
.
.
.
-
,
.
.
..
.
U K l f EU STATES DEPtlRRTMEPiT OF THE INTEKIOR
N?.TIONAC PARK SERVICE
IYATIONALREGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Zl\lbTI\ITORY-- NCrMlNATION FORM
-.
.-
,,
lTEM NUMBER
CONTlNUATIOrJ SHEET
.
7
PAGE
f
.
The Albert Pike Hotel has undergone no m a j o r changes s i n c e its c o n s t r u c t i o n ,
In t h e l a t e 1960's, a two-story modern a d d i t i o n of rooms 1-5 construct& on
the south elevation, but did not: a l t e r the basic structure of the main building.
-
.
The M k r t Pike Hotel has lkeh an important l a d m a r k in L i t t l e . Pack since its
construction. T h e hotel is now owned by t h e Second Baptist Church and administered by them as a residence hotel. This is an appropriate adaptive use which
n o t only keeps t h e hotel in excellent c o n d i t i o n , b u t a l s o contributes to the.
remembrance of an era in which t h e Albert Pike H o t e l was a center of affluence.
.
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE-- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW
JREHIS30rCIC
ARCHEOrUGY-PAEHlSTOR1C
CO?AMVNLNPLANHING
A A N O S M B E ARCHITECTUP€
,AZ
,T400-1499
4ACHEOLOGY-HISTORIC
,CONSERVATION
,LAW
,SCIENCE
,1500.
AGRICULTURE
ACDNOMICS
-LlTERATUAE
I599
893
..
-
.
LIGtON
.
.
.
ACULPTURC
-,
,_
&RCHITECTL~RE
,EDUCATION
-MILITARY
,SOCtAWWMhN\T4R!fbN
-1 700.1 799
A R T
-ENGINEERING
-MUSIC
,THEATER
-1 800- 1899
,COMMERCE
XEXPLORAYIOWSE~TLEME~
,MMMUPIICAlTONS
,INDUSTRI
,PHILOSOPHY.
_POUTICYGOVERNMENT
,TRANS*O.?SATTON
~ 1 ~ 0 0 :
-1600-1
_
-
-OTHER lSPEClFYl
JNVENl7 O N
SPECtFlC DATES
/qZ7
B U I L D E R / A H C H I T E ~ Eugene
~
John S t e m
& G e o r g e R.
STATEMENT OF SlGNlFlCANCE
-.
Ma-
.
The one hundred and seventy-f i v e room U b e l - t Pike Hotel wa's constructed in
1929 at an approximate cost of $1,600,000, The A l b e r k Pike Hotel reflects
"'the affluent decade," t h e 1920'5, i n i t s elaborateness a d richness of d e s i q n .
The nineteen-twenties was a decade of great pxosperity, as reflected by the
garishness of architecture. The hotel is b u i l t in the Italian-Spanish Revival
style, made popular in this era by tbe i n f l n s n c o of C a l i f o r n i a . T h i s s t y l e is
i d e n t i f i e d by arches, terra-cotta work, natural-Einis'n.expsed 'bezm and tiled
roofs,' The interiors, also ~eflectiveof t h i s style, feature elaborate s t e n c i l i n g , leaded and stained-glass taindows and extensive decaratLve t i l e and izon
work. The Albert Pike Hotel is Little Rock's only remaining m a j o r exam_3le of
the Italian-Spanish Revival style of a r c h i t e c t u r e ,
Though only indirectly related to the building i t s e l f , the significance of t h e
site on which t h e A l b e r t Pike Hotel was built is q u i t e impressive. The site
and an earlier house located on it played i n 2 a e a n t roles in nineteenth-century
Arkansas, both before and after U k a n s a s achieved statehood. The block in which
the Ubert Pike Hotel is located was occurrid by a house built in 1827 f o r
RoSert C r i t t e n d e n , Secretary of Arkansas T e r r i t o r y . The C r i t t e n d e n House. w d s
one af the first brick residences.to be-eonstruct~din-& i t t l e Rock. . Shcrtly : . a f t e r his expensive house was completed, crittenden came out on the short end
of a p o l i t i c a l b t t l e and was removed f r o m his office. Thi-s loss o f salary . .
coupled with the expense of his house drove h l m close to bankruptcy. Ha a t t e m p t ed to trade t h e house for ten section of undeveloped l a n d , hoping that t h e house
would becow the Territorial C a p i t o l , but this vas vetoed by Governor John P o p
in 1834. when Crittenden died in 1834, his mortgage was fdreclose3 and the
house was sold to Judge B e n j e n Johnson. T k Johnson h e i r s s o l d it to Dr. E, v,
Demll, whose wife w a s a great niece of Mrs. Crittenden. Dr. Dewell s o l d it to
Governor James P. Eagle and it becme the o f f i c i a l governor's ressence (1889-1893).
The Crittenden Hause bras razed in 1920, n i n e years before the Albert Pike Hotel
w a s b u i l t on t h e site. Still another feature i s also reflective of nineteenthcentury Arkansas; this feature is the h o t e l k same. t h e n p l a n s for t h e hotel
began, it was decided to c a l l it t h e "Albert P i k e Hotel" a f t e r one of Arkansas'
leading h i s t o r i c a l figures. P i k e , a many-talented man, left his native Pbssaehus e t t s and arrived in Arkansas in 1832. From t h e n until he l e f t Arkansas in 1868,
his life and endeavors l e f t their mark on the h i s t o r y of t h e state. Dcring the
e a r l y yeass of Pike's life in Arkansas, he achieved renown as teacher, attorney,
and newspaperman. Later he gained admission to t h e Bar of the United S t a t e s
Supreme C o u r t , represented the Choctaw I n d i a n s in t r e a t y d i s p u t e s w i t h t h e United
States government, served as brigadier general in the Confederzte zrmy, and sat
as a member on t h e Arkansas Suprerns C o u r t .
'
+
I
I
firm
., . .
?ia I b-3ma
-
7.;)
[If
Ilj W ITEl)
STB4'rESD E P A R T ~ E N TOF T H E I ETEK IOK
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NA37ONAX. REGTSTE3 OF HISTORIC P L A C E S
XNVEMTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
' - -"
COF1T1 NU ATION Stl EET
ITEM NUMBER.
8
PAGE.1
i
-
t
.
--.-. ,..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
--- - , y > ,--- .,-.
. .. -. .-- . . +
.
.
,.
The main significance of the A l b e r t P i k e Hotel; though, l i e s n o t in the site o n .
which it stands nor in t h e man f o r whom it was i%.ed; rather the real s i q n i f icance
lies in its vivid reflections of a bygone t h e and an Tch%tecture appropriate
to that t h e . The A l b e ~Pike was b u i l t -in t h e . year: 0-f-the g r e a t crash, b u t as
I
_
near as crash and depression w e r e , t h e time was' s t i l l t h e "Roaring mqentiesR'
when t h e h o t e l was b u i l t . It w a s s t i l l a tine of spending, speculation, and naive
economic optimism- The lavishness a£ the hotel's architecture is a kind of social
art reflecting that time of high l i v i n g so' soon to end. The hotel's status as a
contemporary structure was short-lived, for t h e coming of t h e depression in the
thirties soon gave it the aura of a monument ta t h e past. - - '
-
'
!
t
f
!
!
I
.
i
1
:
-
I
1
1
,
-,A-
And so t h e hotel has stood through four and a h a l f decades in its grand and monm e n t a l reflection of t h e Twenties. In 1971 the Second Baptist C h u r c h of Little
Rgck bought t h e A l b e r t Pike for $740,000 and made it i n t o a residence hotel, But,
it is n o t t h e hotel's f u n c t i o n which is important, rather it is t h e splendid appearance of t h e structure which gives it its a r c h i t e c t u r a l and historical signif
icanc e
" .
.
-
.
!. -
i
i
Arkansas Gazette. May 2 3 , 1928.
Arkansas Gazette. October 3 1 , 1971,
- ...
Herndon, D o l l a s T. ~ e n t ~ ~ iHistory
al.
of Wkansas. L i t t l e Rock:
Publishinq Company, 1922,
Quapaw Quarter chronicle, Blay/June 1 9 7 4 .
- . . -.-...+-..
- .--.
.
+
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
. -
th&rl 1
ACREAGEOF NOMINATED PROPERTY
nrVP.
- .
.
.. --..
,.
r
-
I
I
I
_
- !
. .. - .
- .
--
-
. .
.
A
. B ~ J [ I ~ 1 [ 1 , 1 ~1
~ 1 1 ,1516,6(8,4,01
~
L3,814,4?4,5,01
I
L:.
- - -1 .1~
w
-1 - .
ZONE
I
EASTING
I
.-.
-
I
- 1
..
,
1
I
-
~I
..
I-
-
. ..
-.
r
.,
.
.
. -
I
I
1
.
V E R a A t BOUNDARY DESCFlIPTION
-
-
1
,,I
NORTH tNG
..-
,
1
-
i
"
QUAORAMGLE S C A L E
- >
NORTHING
.
.
,*
-*.-.
*.,
.
1
- .-..- .
..-A
..- -
W A O R A N C L E NAME
U TM AEFERLHCES
e
J. C l a r k e
S.
m
.-
.-
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PRO PERTIES OVERLAPPING STATEOA COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE
,
CODE'
COUNTY
CODE
CObMTY
CUD E
,
STATE
CCDE
A
. ..
~ F O X M
PREPARED BY
..
NAME I n T L E
Sandra Taylor Smith, National Register Section
DATE
ORGANIZATION
Arkansas Historic Preservation Proqran
STREET& NU,MBEil
Suite 500, Continental Bldg.
, Main
9/27/78
TELEPHONE
at Markhan Sts.
CITY OR TOWN
.
L i t t l e Rock,
5Q1-371-2763
.-
STATE
Arkansas -72201
STATE HISTOXIC
. ..
PRESERVATION OFFICER CELSTlFICATION
*
'
T H ??WALUATED
~
NATIONAL
SIGNIFICANCE OFTHIS PR3PERfY WlTHI!!J
-
STATE-
.,,
,,
+
THE STATE 15:
L O C A L L
-
As [he designared Stars Historic Presemation Officer for the N e tional Historic Preservation Act of j 966 {Public Law 89-665).1
hereby nominate this propeny far inclusian in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the
.
criteria and procedures set forth by the na:ionaf Park Service.
STATE HISTORIC PRESEAVATlON OFFICER SIGNAfURE
T'f
LE STATE HXSTORf C PRESERVRTXON OFFICER
2WNE BARTLEY
.-
-
-
.' - <
..
LITTLE
... .
_
-
:
R ~ C KQUADRANGLE
ARKANSAS
7.5M INUTE~SEZIES
[TOPOCRAPH IC)
?SO U r n
-
FEET