Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: Fraternal Buildings of Little Rock's Ninth Street Business District

Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: Fraternal Buildings of LittleRock's Ninth Street Business DistrictAuthor(s): Zackery A. CothrenSource: The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 317-322Published by: Arkansas Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40028051 .

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Arkansas Listings in the National

Register of Historic Places

Zackery A. Cothren

Fraternal Buildings of Little Rock's Ninth Street Business District

On the morning of March 16, 2005, Arkansans awoke to news that the Mosaic Templars of America Headquarters Building, which was to house the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, had been destroyed in a nighttime fire. The loss of this centerpiece of African- American history in Little Rock was probably most deeply felt by the members of the Mo- saic Templars Building Preservation Society, who had fought for more than a decade to preserve the building. Although plans for the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center move forward, a piece of history lay in ruins. Important in its own right, the building had also served as a cornerstone of the historic Ninth Street business district.

The importance of the Ninth Street area to Little Rock's African- American community dates back before the Civil War. In 1854, the family of Chester Ashley, Arkansas's late U.S. senator, donated land at the corner of Eighth Street and Broadway to a congregation of black Meth- odists for the purpose of building a church that would bear the name Wesley Chapel. The completion of Wesley Chapel was followed a few years later by the construction of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church at the corner of Ninth and Broadway. The two churches made the area a popular residential area for African Americans.

The neighborhoods surrounding Ninth Street grew quite rapidly after the Civil War, as did the city's black population. In 1860, there had been fewer than 900 African Americans living in Little Rock, but recently freed slaves began moving into the city in droves near the close of the Civil War. By 1870, Little Rock's African- American population had grown to nearly 5,300 and accounted for 43 percent of the city's popula-

Zackery A. Cothren is preservation outreach coordinator for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Pro-

gram.

THE ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY VOL. LXIV, NO. 3, AUTUMN 2005



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The remains of the Mosaic Templars of America Headquarters Building after the March 2005 fire. Courtesy Arkansas Historic Preservation Pro- gram.

tion. Yet blacks were excluded from Little Rock's social organizations. Access to many essential services that white residents took for granted was restricted or simply denied. This resulted in the growth of businesses along the Ninth Street corridor that catered to African Americans.

Known as "the Line," the vibrant area from High Street to South Broadway remained the primary commercial district for blacks in Little Rock. As the Ninth Street area grew commercially, it also evolved into the city's social and cultural center for African Americans. The corridor saw a great decline beginning in the late 1950s, and by the end of the twentieth century only a handful of commercial buildings from its glory days survived. But, until that March night, the buildings of the two most prominent social groups in the neighborhood continued to stand: the Mo- saic Templars of America Headquarters and Taborian Hall.

The Mosaic Templars of America was founded in 1882 by John E. Bush and Chester W. Keatts. Like many other enterprises along Ninth Street, the Mosaic Templars was founded in order to provide services not readily available to blacks; in this case, burial and life insurance. The Mosaic Templars proved to be a huge success, and within two months of its founding had membership rolls nearing 500. As the organization



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The Mosaic Templars of America Headquarters in its heyday. Courtesy the Bush Family, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center Community History Project, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center Collection.

grew, it provided an ever expanding variety of services, including a building and loan association, a newspaper, a nursing school, and a hospital.

In 1911, the Mosaic Templars began construction of a large, four- story brick building at Ninth and Broadway to serve as the organization's national headquarters. The 10,000-square-foot neoclassical-style building, designed by Massachusetts architect Frank Blaisdell, was completed in 1913 and dedicated by Booker T. Washington. The building incorpo- rated several functions under one roof. Besides professional offices and retail businesses, the building housed an elegant auditorium on the fourth floor that was one of the most respectable venues in Little Rock, hosting theatrical and musical performances by some of the best known perform- ers of the day.

John Bush died in 1916, and control of the Mosaic Templars passed to his son, Chester E. Bush, who continued to expand the organization. By 1920, membership in the Mosaic Templars stood at nearly 100,000,



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with chapters in twenty-six states and at least six foreign countries. In its first forty years of existence, the Mosaic Templars of America had grown from what was essentially an insurance provider into an international conglomerate with one of the largest concentrations of black-owned cap- ital in the United States. In the early 1920s, the organization seemed primed for a long and bright future. That was not to be. The Great De- pression delivered a devastating blow to the Mosaic Templars. Member- ship plummeted as people could no longer afford dues. In 1931, the Mosaic Templars went bankrupt, and the building went into receivership.

Even with the downfall of the Mosaic Templars, during the 1940s and 1950s the building continued to serve in much the same capacity as it had in the organization's heyday. It housed offices, a nursing school, and a hospital and served as a performance venue. With the decline of the Ninth Street corridor, the building was relegated to less illustrious functions. During the 1960s and 1970s, the building held a warehouse and auto parts store on the first story and was left vacant on the upper three floors.

On April 19, 1990, the Mosaic Templars of America Headquarters was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, by 1992 the owner of the property was negotiating to sell the building to a fast- food chain. The chain planned to demolish the building and put a fran- chise on the prominent corner lot located along Broadway. With the threat of demolition, the Mosaic Templars Building Preservation Society formed to save the building. The organization's efforts paid off when the city of Little Rock intervened by purchasing the structure in 1993.

Ten years later, the city gave the property to the state. The Depart- ment of Arkansas Heritage planned to restore the building and convert it into a museum. By the end of 2004, restoration was underway with the museum set to open in 2006. Unfortunately, the fire on March 16, 2005, sealed the building's fate. The Department of Arkansas Heritage plans to build a facility on the site to house the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. Although the contribution of the Mosaic Templars to the cultural heritage of Ninth Street will be honored at the future museum, the cornerstone of the Ninth Street corridor has been forever lost.

The Mosaic Templars was not the only important fraternal organization with a building in the Ninth Street area. In 1916, the International Order of the Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor, Royal House of Media and Maids and Pages of Honor built a fraternal temple at Ninth and State Streets. Like the Mosaic Templars, the Knights and Daughters of Tabor was a black fraternal organization that attracted many of its members through benefit programs, including burial insurance.



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The Knights and Daughters of Tabor was founded in St. Louis during the early 1870s by the Reverend Moses Dickson. Dickson was born free in Cincinnati, but from 1840 to 1843 he traveled throughout the South witnessing the plight of slaves. Upon his return to St. Louis, Dickson and eleven other men founded the Knights of Tabor, also known as the Knights of Liberty. The men developed a plan to arm slaves, but, as civil war seemed to near, Dickson urged his followers to abort the planned up- rising. When the United States began enlisting black troops during the Civil War, Dickson and many of his followers took up arms with the Union army. At the close of the war, Dickson continued fighting for equality and helped establish the Missouri Equal Rights League. He or- ganized the Knights and Daughters of Tabor not only to provide services to African Americans but also to promote racial equality.

Although it is not known when the Knights and Daughters of Tabor chartered the Little Rock chapter, by 1916 the chapter had enough members to support the construction of the classical three-and-one-half story Taborian Hall. The building's longest-term tenant was the Gem Phar- macy. However, over the years the building's lower floors also housed restaurants and other businesses in addition to offices for numerous med- ical professionals. Like the Mosaic Templars Building, Taborian Hall's upper floor served as a ballroom.

The stock market crash of 1929 devastated the finances of the Tabo- rian Order, eventually leading to foreclosure on the building. But Tabo- rian Hall continued to maintain a high rate of occupancy through the 1950s. Taborian Hall's focal point, though, was the Dreamland Ball- room, which played host to the top African- American musical acts of the day, including Louis Jordan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie. Like the rest of Ninth Street, the Dreamland began a serious decline in the late 1950s.

The cause of Ninth Street's demise has been debated. In an essay in Sentinels of History (2000), the late Dr. Nudie Williams named three of the more significant developments that adversely affected this once-vibrant commercial district. One was the conversion of Ninth Street from a two-way street with adequate parking to a three-lane, one-way street, void of parking and geared toward travel rather than business. A second cause was increased black patronage of Main Street businesses once re- served primarily for whites. Lastly, urban renewal programs of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s led to the demolition of large portions of the surrounding neighborhoods. With declining commerce, business owners



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Taborian Hall. Courtesy Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

began relocating to newer facilities, usually outside of the neighborhood. This exodus from the business district and the construction of Interstate 630 resulted in the demolition of much of Ninth Street's former commercial core.

Taborian Hall underwent a partial restoration around 1990, and has served since that time as the headquarters of Arkansas Flag and Banner. With the loss of the Mosaic Templars of America Headquarters Building, the title of the most significant building associated with African- Ameri- can fraternal activities in Little Rock now rests with Taborian Hall. More significantly, the building stands as the greatest reminder of the social and economic importance of Ninth Street to Little Rock's African- Amer- ican community from Reconstruction through the 1950s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 29, 1982.

For more information about Arkansas 's National Register-listed properties, please visit the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program web site at www.arkansaspreservation.org.



Documents

Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: Fraternal Buildings of Little Rock's Ninth Street Business District