The George Howard Jr. Federal Building, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse at Pine Bluff has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.
The state review board of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program nominated 10 Arkansas properties — including the federal building at Pine Bluff — to the National Register Dec. 7, AHPP Director Frances McSwain announced Friday.
“The Federal Building, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse at 100 E. Eighth Ave. is an International-style building constructed between 1965 and 1967,” according to a press release from the AHPP.
The building was named in honor of the late U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. of Pine Bluff. Howard was the first African American to serve as a federal judge in Arkansas and to serve as a justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court. He died on April 21, 2007.
“Its style was indicative of the Modern Movement with clean lines and being void of the unnecessary trappings of ornamentation,” according to the National Register nomination. “This design approach and the almost complete reliance on private architects by the federal government for development of new federal facilities typified this era in the federal public building program. As a consequence, the Pine Bluff building was a part of the post-war national trend where an increased need for federal facilities combined with a modern efficient approach to design and the use of private architects resulted in the construction of a number of public facilities across the country.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
In addition to the 1965-67 federal building at Pine Bluff, the board also nominated other properties to the National Register:
Cumberland Towers, Fred W. Parris Towers, Jesse Powell Towers, Darragh Building and Isaac Homard House at Little Rock in Pulaski County; Aristocrat Hotel at Hot Springs in Garland County; Brinkley Concrete Streets at Brinkley in Monroe County; Lake Catherine State Park Prisoner of War Structures in Hot Spring County; St. John’s Episcopal Church at Camden in Ouachita County; First Evangelical Lutheran Church at Fort Smith in Sebastian County; Dr. James Patrick House at Fayetteville in Washington County, and Minaret Manor at Osceola in Mississippi County.
The AHPP is the Department of Arkansas Heritage agency that identifies, evaluates, registers and preserves the state’s cultural resources.
Details: AHPP, 1100 North St., Little Rock, AR, 72201; 501-324-9880 [TDD 501-324-9811]; info@arkansaspreservation.org or www.arkansaspreservation.org.