ANNOUNCEMENT 3
Archives facility to
be built at Powhatan
The Lawrence County Historical Society has announced that a historical and genealogical research facility will be constructed at the Powhatan Courthouse State Park. Plans for the facility are the result of a memorandum of agreement executed by the Arkansas History Commission, the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and the LCHS.
The facility, to be called the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives (NARA), will be housed in the former Church of Christ building now owned by the Powhatan Park. A state of the art, vaulted, storage facility is to be constructed adjacent to the church. It will house the thousands of records, journals, artifacts and books now being temporarily held at the Arkansas State University library archives and by the society.
The facility should be available for public use in early 2008, according to Lloyd Clark, LCHS president.
The LCHS has long been the caretaker of the thousands of records, some dating back to the early 1800's, which were previously held in the vaults of the Powhatan Courthouse.
"When the Parks Department decided to remodel the courthouse and build new displays in 2003 they asked the LCHS to find a new place to keep the records, which had been safely ensconced in the courthouse for decades," Clark said. "After a public outcry, and intense negotiations with them, the Parks Department has decided to build this new facility to house the Lawrence County records and potentially those of other Northeast Arkansas Counties."
The NARA will operate similar to the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives (SARA) at Washington, Ark., in Hempstead County. The History Commission will provide a certified archivist to insure the documents are properly handled and a librarian to assist the public in their research. The LCHS will provide volunteer docents and provide other historical artifacts for display in the NARA.
The society will also assist the ASU archives department in obtaining grants to provide researchers to inventory, repair and properly store the records now held in boxes at ASU.
Clark said they are hopeful that a complete catalogued listing of all the records will be prepared and entered onto the ASU library system so that researchers can find and locate the records they need.
"The NARA, when completed, will be one of the finest historical and genealogical facilities in this part of the nation and will house records that date back to the Louisiana Purchase and early territorial Arkansas," Clark said.
