Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth

Last updated
Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth
Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth.jpg
The telephone booth, November 2012
USA Arkansas location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Prairie Grove, Arkansas
Coordinates 35°58′57.4″N94°18′36″W / 35.982611°N 94.31000°W / 35.982611; -94.31000
Builtc. 1960
NRHP reference No. 15000291
Added to NRHPNovember 9, 2015

The Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth is a telephone booth installed at the southwest corner of East Douglas and Parker Streets in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, United States. It is an early example of the Airlight, the first American mass-produced weather-resistant metal telephone booth, which made possible widespread installation of outdoor payphones. In 2015, it became the first phone booth on the National Register of Historic Places. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Description and history

The phone booth is located on the east side of Prairie Grove, opposite the entrance to Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park on U.S. Highway 62, [1] and in front of the Colonial Motel. It is a structure of aluminum with a satin finish, and glass window walls, with a bifold door that folds inward, topped by a red panel marked "TELEPHONE". It rests on a small concrete pad, with the door facing the highway, and measures about 86.125 inches (218.76 cm) in height, and 33.5 inches (85 cm) in width and depth at its base. It is slightly larger at the top, with an aluminum roof that projects slightly beyond the walls. The interior of the booth houses an aluminum shelf, above which the original telephone is mounted. A swiveling directory holder is mounted in the shelf, and there is a fluorescent light fixture mounted in the ceiling. [4]

It is an Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth, a product introduced by American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) in 1954 as a way to install public telephones in outdoor locations. Previously, telephones, even publicly accessible pay phones, had generally only been available indoors. This particular telephone booth was installed about 1960 by the local Prairie Grove Telephone Company, to serve visitors to the nearby motel and state park. It is the only surviving booth of the company's original four. [4]

In 2014, the phone booth was damaged by an SUV, after which the company repaired it, replacing a few of its glass panes and straightening bent metal parts. Ralph Wilcox, director of historic preservation programs for Arkansas, believes it is one of only two telephone booths of this type in the state with a working phone. [5]

It was added to the NRHP on November 9, 2015.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie Grove, Arkansas</span> City in Arkansas

Prairie Grove is a city in Washington County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 7,045 at the 2020 Census. It is part of the Northwest Arkansas region, and home to Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone booth</span> Small structure furnished with a payphone

A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth door while using the payphone inside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 62 in Arkansas</span> Segment of American highway

U.S. Route 62 is a U.S. highway running from El Paso, Texas northeast to Niagara Falls, New York. In the U.S. state of Arkansas, the route runs 329.9 miles from the Oklahoma border near Summers east to the Missouri border in St. Francis, serving the northern portion of the state. The route passes through several cities and towns, including Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, Harrison, Mountain Home, Pocahontas, and also Piggott. US 62 runs concurrent with several highways in Arkansas including Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 71 between Fayetteville and Bentonville, U.S. Route 412 through much of the state, U.S. Route 65 in the Harrison area, and with U.S. Route 63 and U.S. Route 67 in northeast Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cane Hill Road Bridge</span> Bridge in near Prairie Grove, Arkansas

The Cane Hill Road Bridge was a closed-spandrel arch bridge built in 1923 located near Prairie Grove, Arkansas. It carried Arkansas Highway 170 over the Little Red River, and was in 2014 in the process of being bypassed. The bridge has a single span about 43 feet (13 m) in length, with an overall bridge length of 48 feet (15 m). The bridge is 15 feet (4.6 m) wide. AR 170 was the major north–south route in the area when the bridge was built, but this section has since been bypassed by the construction of United States Route 62. The bridge was built by the Luten Bridge Company of Knoxville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean Motel</span> United States historic place

The Caribbean Motel is a historic motel located in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. It is located in the Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District. The motel was built in 1957 in the Doo-Wop style by Lou Morey, whose family built many of the Wildwoods' original Doo Wop motels, for original owners Dominic and Julie Rossi. It was owned by the Rossi family until the early 1990s, when they sold it to multi-billionaire Mister Bolero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park</span> State park in Arkansas, United States

The Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park is a state park located in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. It memorializes the Battle of Prairie Grove, fought on December 7, 1862, during the American Civil War. The battle secured U.S. Army control of northwestern Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borden House (Prairie Grove, Arkansas)</span> Historic house in Arkansas, United States

The Borden House is a historic house on the grounds of Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. In the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862, the original Borden House was one of the central points of the Confederate line, and was the scene of heavy casualties. The Borden House was burned the next day. Archibald Borden built the current house on the original site. It is a 1+12-story wood-frame house, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof pierced by three gabled dormers. A porch extends across the center three bays of the front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cane Hill Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Arkansas, United States

The Cane Hill Cemetery is a cemetery in Canehill, Arkansas. It is located just south of Washington County Route 13 and west of Arkansas Highway 45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Zion Baptist Church (Little Rock, Arkansas)</span> Historic church in Arkansas, United States

Mount Zion Baptist Church is a historic church at 900 Cross Street in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a buff brick structure with modest Prairie School features on its exterior, with a three-part facade articulated by brick pilasters, and a trio of entrances set in the center section above a raised basement. The interior of the church is extremely elaborate in its decoration, with a pressed-metal ceiling, elaborate central copper light fixture, and banks of stained glass windows. The church was built in 1926 for a predominantly African-American congregation founded in 1877.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, Arkansas)</span> United States historic place

The Riverside International Speedway is an automobile racing facility at 151 Legion Road in West Memphis, Arkansas. Its facilities consist of a 0.25-mile (0.40 km) Gumbo clay oval with banked corners, bleacher seating on both straightaways. Amenities include a concession stand. The track was built in 1950 and opened June 10 of that year at an estimated cost of $150,000 by C L Montgomery, originally to showcase midget car racing. It has held a World of Outlaws race. The track is nicknamed "The Ditch".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highway B-29 Bridge</span> United States historic place

The Highway B-29 Bridge is a historic bridge in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. It is a single-span concrete arch bridge, carrying Washington County Route 623 across the Illinois River. The arch has a span of 97 feet (30 m), and the total structure length is 100 feet (30 m). Its deck is 17 feet (5.2 m) wide, and the bridge is typically 20 feet (6.1 m) above the water. Built in 1923, the bridge is one of the first built in the county by the Luten Bridge Company, which used an innovative technique involving metal rings that reduced the amount of material required for the structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake-Bell House</span> Historic house in Arkansas, United States

The Lake-Bell House is a historic house in rural Washington County, Arkansas. It is located just north of a westward bend in County Road 80 on the north side of Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park. It is a single-story brick structure, with a side-gable roof and a gabled front entry portico with square columns. The front facade is a spare three bays wide, and the main block is but one bay deep, but obscures a rear ell that enlarges the building substantially. The house's construction date is uncertain, but it was probably built c. 1870 by Milton F. Lake, who moved to the area after the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Mercantile Building</span> United States historic place

The Southern Mercantile Building is a historic commercial building at 107 East Buchanan in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. It is a single-story brick and masonry structure, with a stuccoed parapet. It consists of two separate buildings, one dating to 1883, that were combined under the unifying parapet about 1920. The building is the largest and best-preserved example of that period's commercial architecture in the city. It served for many years as Prairie Grove's largest and most important general store, finally closing its doors in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polk County Courthouse (Arkansas)</span> United States historic place

The Polk County Courthouse is a historic government building at Church Avenue and DeQueen Streets in Mena, Arkansas, the county seat of Polk County. The original portion of the building is a two-story light-colored brick structure, with restrained Art Deco styling. It was designed by Haralson and Mott of Fort Smith, and was built in 1939 with funding from the Public Works Administration. To the rear of the courthouse is a modern wing, joined by a breezeway. The original building is little-altered—only its front doors have been replaced with modern glass and aluminum doors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Rock Confederate Memorial</span> United States historic place

The Little Rock Confederate Memorial is a stone memorial marker in Little Rock National Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas. Set in an overflow area of the cemetery on 21st and Barber Streets, it is a granite obelisk, mounted in a concrete base, measuring 18 feet (5.5 m) in height and a square base 67 inches (1.7 m) per side. Midway up the west side of the obelisk "U.D.C." is inscribed, with "1913" at the base of that side. Inscriptions on the sides of the base commemorate fallen Confederate Army soldiers. It was placed in 1913, paid for by the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The ceremony marked the first time that the federal government formally took charge of a former Confederate military cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial to Company A, Capitol Guards</span> United States historic place

The Memorial to Company A, Capitol Guards was an American Civil War memorial in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. It stood just northeast of the former Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal, at a junction of two of the park's internal roadways. It consisted of a bronze sculpture depicting a Confederate Army soldier in a defensive stance, holding a rifle pointed forward. The statue was 8 feet (2.4 m) in height, and was mounted in a granite column 16 feet (4.9 m) tall. The memorial was sometimes known as "Lest we forget", a line that appeared near the top of the inscription on the base. The statue was created by sculptor Rudolph Schwarz, and was installed in 1911; it was paid for by the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and memorializes the unit that seized the arsenal at the outset of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Grove Cemetery (Des Arc, Arkansas)</span> Historic cemetery in Arkansas, United States

Oak Grove Cemetery is a historic cemetery on 7th Street in Des Arc, Arkansas. Established in the 1850s, it is the city's oldest cemetery, occupying about 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) now hemmed in by development. It has 182 documented historic burials, and is one of its few surviving pre-Civil War elements. Most of its interments took place before 1930, and there have been none since 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie Grove Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Arkansas, United States

The Prairie Grove Cemetery is a historic cemetery on West Buchanan and Kate Smith Streets in Prairie Grove, Washington County, Arkansas. Located just west of downtown Prairie Grove, the cemetery is the burial ground for many of the area's early settlers, with the oldest known burial occurring in 1818. It has more than 3,000 interments, and continues in active use. It is owned and maintained by a private not-for-profit cemetery association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazen station</span>

The Rock Island Depot is a historic railroad station at 157 North Front Street, Hazen, Arkansas. It is a single story stuccoed brick building with Mediterranean style, built in 1915 by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Its main facade is oriented south, toward the former railroad tracks, with a projecting telegrapher's booth. It is topped by a tile roof with broad eaves supported by large brackets.

References

  1. 1 2 Bowden, Bill (November 20, 2015). "Arkansas phone booth is first of its kind to make National Register of Historic Places". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette . WEHCO Media . Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  2. "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 11/09/15 Through 11/13/15". National Park Service. November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  3. "Prairie Grove Telephone Booth Listed on National Register of Historic Places". Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (Department of Arkansas Heritage). November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth" (PDF). Arkansas Preservation. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  5. "Talk About History: Arkansas phone booth is first of its kind to make National Register of Historic Places". NWA Online. Retrieved 2015-11-29.