[ArkansasSlim]

This is in Caddo Gap, Montgomery County, and I know nothing of it's history, but it is of native stone and appears to have been a gas station and grocery store in the distant past, and possibly also had living quarters in the building. It is about a block down the street from the Indian statue I posted earlier.

I know one thing for sure and that is I have been passing this building for many, many years and fantasized about owing it, restoring it, and living there. Of course that isn't feasible, but is good to think about. In the distant past this has been a booming little town but it looks like the last grocery store may now be closed.

[Luvvarkansas]

Originally Posted by ArkansasSlim

This is in Caddo Gap, Montgomery County, and I know nothing of it's history, but it is of native stone and appears to have been a gas station and grocery store in the distant past, and possibly also had living quarters in the building. It is about a block down the street from the Indian statue I posted earlier.

I know one thing for sure and that is I have been passing this building for many, many years and fantasized about owing it, restoring it, and living there. Of course that isn't feasible, but is good to think about. In the distant past this has been a booming little town but it looks like the last grocery store may now be closed.

Wow, thanks for posting that, Slim! That is one cool building. I especially love the huge tree trunk for the post!

It's funny, I thought my mom and I were the only ones who did that....passing cool old buildings and fantasizing about restoring them. She has actually bought several houses, lived in them, fixed them up, and then resold them for a profit. The one she's living in right now (and trying to sell) is an old one, built in a sawmill town when it was booming in the early 1900s, in the part of town with the nicer houses. It's nice, but the town is sad....that's usually the hitch in the fantasies about the old buildings or homes -- they're in dead or dying towns!

I sure hope Caddo Gap doesn't let that one go.

[Luvvarkansas]

Oh my goodness, Slim, I just took a "drive" through and around Caddo Gap....what a beautiful little town! Neat old buildings, lots of old houses, that gorgeous little Baptist church with that big house on the hill behind it, the old "mercantile" building, the river nearby....I've got to go there and explore in person sometime!

I went as far as google would let me down Indian Valley Road...wow! Found some more neat old farmhouses, beautiful pastures with mountains in the distance, creeks. Also went down Manford or Manfred Road (google had it labeled both way), crossed the river....beautiful! Buttermilk Springs Road was also intriguing....seems like every rural community has a "buttermilk spring".

The old mercantile intrigued me also....I absolutely LOVE old country stores. I've often dreamed of buying one like that in a neat little rural place, getting to know the locals, having the old guys hang out on the porch and play checkers, etc. Guess what I really want is to live in Mayberry. We always like to stop at the country stores in Arkansas. There are still a few. You think that one is about to close down, did you say?

I love to walk, and it looks like there are plenty of quiet country roads around there to walk on. Can you imagine walking around there in the fall or spring. *sigh* The google pictures were taken in winter, but it's still beautiful. Looks like there are a lot of mature trees in "town". I just have to go there.

What do the people who live there do besides ranching? Most of those houses look well-kept. Of course, I think google street view is about 5 years out of date in some places, at least it is at my house. Their high school looks nice.

Boy, somebody with some vision needs to preserve that little town and attract tourists to it somehow....is the river around there large enough for canoeing? It doesn't appear to be very far from Hot Springs, either.

Oh, if I were younger!

Thanks so much for posting this, Slim....it gives me a new place to dream about exploring on my next trip to Arkansas!

[ArkansasSlim]

Thanks for the "roses" Luv. There is/was a nice B & B on the road that crosses the river we have often commented that we would like to try, but never did. I did not stop to check but the store appeared to be closed. Lots of people in that part of the country work in timber. The high school is about 20 years old and is built on top of a Caddo Indian Site. It was built before the law changed, that prevented that except in special circumstances. I don't know about this far up stream, but a few miles down stream at Glenwood, canoing is very popular with several canoe rental businesses.

I'm sending you a DM telling you more than you really want to know about Caddo Gap .

[ArkansasSlim]

It's deer season and I haven't been out and about and I'm about to go stir crazy . I'm not afraid of getting shot, I'm afraid of the drunk drivers on those back roads , and they don't like strangers in their territory . We have been told specifically to stay out of one area until the season is over .

[Luvvarkansas]

Originally Posted by ArkansasSlim

This old log house is on the south river bluff of the Ouachita River near the Tate's Bluff Civil War Fort I posted earlier. Even after a close inspection we could not decide, for certain, if it is in it's original location or has been moved in from somewhere else, but probably was moved in. If it was moved in for a hunting lodge or vacation home, there has been no effort to restore it. Of course the metal roof is a modern addition. It is in great condition and restoration would take minimum effort. My photo of the corner was blurred so I did not post it, but the type of corner notching indicates it is mid to late 19th Century.

Slim, I was reading about a woman restoring a log cabin this morning on Mother Earth News, and I thought of this little cabin you had posted the picture of. Have you been back to it lately? I sure hope someone is keeping it from falling down!

Look at what that woman did with her cabin (link below)....imagine how the one you posted could look if she was able to bring this decrepit thing back to life!

Mom and Son in a 650-Square-Foot Cabin:

[ArkansasSlim]

Thanks for the Link Luvv. Makes me want to move back to the country.

[ArkansasSlim]

Somewhere on the Ouachita National Forest is this Caddo Indian village site which we have known about for 30+ years, but there has been no need to disturb it, and knew that once the word got out about it's location the looters would turn it upside down looking for artifacts. Now plans are being made to conduct the 2013 annual Arkansas Archeological Society Training Dig there. To decide which areas will be best for the dig, Phase 1 Testing must be conducted and that is what this team is doing. There were five teams in the woods today. Preliminary dating is between 1,000 and 1,500 A.D. It will take much lab work to tie it down closer.

The ONF Law Enforcement Officers will now keep an eye on the area to make sure looters do not find it and damage it. There is one rough, muddy, narrow, dead end road into it, and if LEO finds someone in there, there is no way out except they will be "invited" to ride out with LEO.

[ArkansasSlim]

Well, for some reason my photo for the above Post didn't stick, but here it is.

[ArkansasSlim]

Ten years ago I had an archeology contract with the Ouachita National Forest. I was working way back in the mountains north of Oden Montgomery County and from time to time would hear a distant "boom". It was cloudy so thought it was a distant thunderstorm and paid no attention to it. I heard it every day and one day realized the sky was totally clear so decided it was mining going on across the mountain. I asked the people at the Ranger Station where the mine was located and they said there was no mining going on, and started laughing at me. After harassing me for a few minutes they finally told me that the sound had been going on "forever" because some of the local old timers told they had heard it when they were kids. I asked if anyone had tried to find out what/where it came from, and they said everyone accepted it and were not interested in finding out. Wellll, last Monday I was at an archeology site in the same general area and heard several "booms" and thought it was thunder because it had been sprinkling rain. At lunch time several of us gathered around under the trees when I heard it again. I guess I had a startled look on my face because when I looked at one of the Forest men I had worked with ten years ago, he was grinning at men and said; "no, we still don't know what it is". Then I remembered it was the same sound I had heard in 2002.

I think, if I lived in the area I would like to find out what it is, but I guess since the natives have heard it for generations it means nothing to them. They just accept it and don't care. With all the sophisticated electronic direction finding stuff that is now available, it seems to me it would be easy to locate. But I don't live there.