Old State House, Little Rock, Arkansas - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

The building pictured on the stamp was originally conceived to be the Capitol of the old Arkansas Territory (1819 – 1836). But by the time it first opened its doors, Arkansas had already become a state. The handsome, Greek Revival structure served as Arkansas’s Capitol for the next 75 years until the current Capitol Building was completed in 1911. It is currently the oldest state Capitol Building west of the Mississippi River that is still standing.

The Old State House, as it is now called, has seen a lot in those 75 years of government service: Arkansas’s secession from the Union, occupation by Union troops during the Civil War, a disputed gubernatorial election which led to bloodshed (the so-called Brooks-Baxter War of 1874) and a murder. In 1837, during a debate on taxes, Speaker of the House, John Wilson, and Representative Joseph J. Anthony came to blows, each drawing a knife in the process. After the scuffle, Anthony lay dead on the House Chamber floor. Though escaping punishment during his lifetime, Wilson’s ghost is said to roam the halls of the Old State House till this day.

After the move to the new Capitol in 1912, the old building was used by the University of Arkansas’s Medical Department for a while then, during the Great Depression, the building served as a local home to many of FDR’s “alphabet soup” New Deal programs. Located in the old Capitol were the HRS (Historic Recovery Survey), the NYA (National Youth Administration), and the HAP (Housekeeping Aide Project), all agencies of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) which had performed major renovation on the historic structure. Also located on the premises was the CDP (Commodity Distribution Project) which was part of the AAA (the Agricultural Adjustment Act, not the American Automobile Association although the American Automobile Club had an office in the building at that time as well).

By 1951, it was decided to convert the old Capitol into a museum dedicated to the history of Arkansas. Starting out with several “period” rooms, the museum has been expanded to include many permanent and rotating exhibits relating to Arkansas’s heritage. When I visited, there was an exhibit dedicated to Arkansas native son Johnny Cash which included the steel rods used during his recording of “The Legend of John Henry’s Hammer.”

The building was in need of repair almost from the time it was completed. In fact, it seems that this building was in almost constant need of repair throughout its lifetime. Almost everything has been replaced including walls, ceilings, roof and, most recently, its foundation – no small feat for a building that is already standing.

The stamp was issued in 1986, on the 150th anniversary of Arkansas’s statehood. It shows the Old State House in Little Rock which had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. This is the second stamp to show the Old State House. Fifty years earlier, the Arkansas Centennial stamp of 1936 also showed the Old State House but from the opposite angle.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 03-Jan-1986 Denomination: 22c Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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