The Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal

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The Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal is a building located in MacArthur Park in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas built in 1840 as part of Little Rock's first military installation. Since its decommissioning as a military building it has housed two museums: The Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities from 1942 to 1997, and The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History from 2001 to the present. The building receives its name from its distinct octagonal tower. Besides being the last remaining structure of the original Little Rock Arsenal and one of the oldest buildings in central Arkansas, it was also the birthplace of General Douglas MacArthur who would go on to be the supreme commander of US forces in the South Pacific during World War II.

[edit] History

The Tower Building was constructed shortly after Arkansas was admitted as a state in 1836. Its purpose was to store munitions and weapons for defense of the frontier. Eventually there would be over 30 buildings constructed in the surrounding area including barracks, officers' quarters, and any other building a working army base might need. Being originally constructed to store potentially explosive material, the building was designed with three foot thick exterior walls.

For several years the arsenal, which was owned by the federal government, served as a simple arms depot and staffed with only a handful of soldiers. But in November 1860, with the Civil War on the horizon, the Second United States Artillery, consisting of about 60 men, was transferred to Little Rock under the command of Capt. James Totten. Officials had organized an assembly to decide how the state would deal with the coming crisis of war, although this meeting would not be held till March 4. On January 28 then Governor Henry Massey Rector informed Captain Totten that he and his soldiers would be "permitted to remain in the possession of the Federal officers until the State, by authority of the people, shall have determined to sever their connection with the General Government," Totten responded to this by telling the Governor that his orders came from the United States Government, and began a desperate but ultimately futile dispatch of letters and telegrams asking for reinforcements, although rumors were widely spread that they were already coming. The first telegraph wire to span between Little Rock and Memphis had recently been completed. The rumor of reinforcements of federal troops to the arsenal was part of the first transmission. The item was intended simply as a piece of news but, was interpreted by some Arkansans as a call from the governor to assemble to help expel the federal troops from the arsenal. By February 5th 6 military units, consisting of 1,000 men, with a guarantee that the numbers could be increased to 5,000 if the situations deemed it necessary, had assembled in Little Rock. Governor Rector vehemently denied ordering the troops to assemble or giving any order at all in connection with the troops. However, faced with the fact that the military had assembled believing they were following his orders and, the consensus of the citizens of Little Rock against any armed conflict between the civilian army and federal troops, Governor Rector was forced to take control of the situation. He sent a formal demand for surrender of the arsenal to Captain Totten.

This movement is prompted by the feeling that pervades the citizens of this State that in the present emergency the arms and munitions of war in the Arsenal should be under the control of the State authorities, in order to their security. This movement, although not authorized by me, has assumed such an aspect that it becomes my duty, as the executive of this Sate, to interpose my official authority to prevent a collision between the people of the State and the Federal troops under your command. I therefore demand in the name of the State the delivery of the possession of the Arsenal and munitions of war under your charge to the State authorities, to be held subject to the action of the convention to be held on the 4th of March next.

Captain Totten agreed to surrender the arsenal as long as the governor agreed to three provisions.

. The governor would take possession of the arsenal in the name of the United States.
. The soldiers would be allowed safe passage in any direction carrying any personal and public property besides munitions of war.
. The soldiers would be allowed to march away as men leaving under orders, not as conquered and surrendering soldiers.

On the morning of February 8, 1861 Rector and Totten signed an agreement placing the arsenal in the hands of state officials. That afternoon, the citizen militia marched to the arsenal with Governor Rector at its head. All of the federal troops had left at this point, except Totten who had stayed behind to listen to the Governors speech and, to hand the arsenal over in person.

In 1873 the building was renamed Little Rock Barracks and used as a barracks for officers stationed at the arsenal. In 1880, Douglas MacArthur was born on the northwest upper floor of this building [1] while his father, Captain Arthur MacArthur, was stationed there. The building would continue to be a post for military personnel until 1890 when it was closed.

Two years later, the federal government traded the building and surrounding buildings to the city of Little Rock for 1,000 acres (4 km²) in North Little Rock under the condition that its use be "forever exclusively devoted to the uses and purposes of a public park." The 1,000 acres (4 km²) in North Little Rock would become Fort Roots and all the buildings surrounding the Tower Building would be demolished. For the next fifty years the Tower Building would be largely vacant.

Due to the efforts of the prolific writer and prohibitionist, Bernie Babcock, the building was renovated and reopened in 1942 as The Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities, intended as a place to display Native American artifacts. Babcock was also responsible for having the city name the park MacArthur Park after the World War II hero, who was born in the building.

The museum contained a hodgepodge of exhibits on Native American culture in Arkansas, conservation and wildlife exhibits, as well as exhibits on ancient and prehistoric Arkansas. The museum was one of three state organizations to receive a mold of the Arkansaurus fridayi fossil, "The Arkansas Dinosaur", and also had a statue of it. In later years, the museum adopted a new name - the Museum of Science and History.

In 1997 the museum became The Arkansas Museum of Discovery and moved to the Little Rock River Market District. The Tower Building closed once again for the most extensive renovations it has ever had, and reopened as The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in 2001. The new museum's goal is to educate and inform visitors about the military history of Arkansas, preserve the Tower Building, honor servicemen and servicewomen of the United States, and commemorate the birthplace of Douglas MacArthur.