A State House With a Colorful History (And Bronze Cleavage)

It’s witnessed the birth of a presidential campaign and the literal death of an Arkansas legislator. The history of the Old State House reveals that the iconic building doesn’t keep secrets.

• Though construction of the statehouse was not complete, Arkansas’s General Assembly met in the building for the first time in 1836, the year Arkansas became a state and the same year the Battle for the Alamo was fought.

Credit: Old State House Museum Collection

• Gov. Bill Clinton announced his candidacy for president on the front lawn in October 1991. He also held victory night celebrations there in 1992 and 1996.

Credit: Old State House Museum

• The Old State House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 — not because it was a temple of democracy on the American frontier in 1836 or because of its association with President Clinton but due to its role in the Crossett Experiment, a successful effort to control hookworm and malaria that became a model used worldwide.

Credit: Ken Oberste

• The Old State House Museum is open 361 days a year.

Credit: Old State House Museum Collection

• In 1837, Speaker of the House John Wilson fatally stabbed Representative Joseph J. Anthony after a debate over taxes in the building’s House of Representatives Chamber.

Credit: Arkansas History Commission

• In 1861, Arkansas lawmakers voted to secede from the Union in the House of Representatives Chamber.

Credit: Tim Hursley

• The Old State House was the original home of the Arkansas Rangers, who later became the Arkansas State Police.

Credit: Old State House Museum Collection

• Arkansas’s Old State House is the oldest, purpose-built state capital west of the Mississippi River.

Credit: Old State House Museum Collection

• The Civil War-era cannon on the front lawn of the Old State House is named Lady Baxter and was used as part of Little Rock’s defense against Union forces.

Credit: University of Arkansas Medical School Special Collections

• The Old State House was used as a medical school from 1911 to 1935.

Credit: Old State House Museum Collection

• The Old State House originally boasted a bronze statue of justice which crowned the roof of the main entrance, but the statue showed a little too much cleavage for the Sisters of Temperance Society’s liking, so they hired a gang to steal the statue one night. Rumor has it the statue still lies on the riverbed behind the museum.

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