Monticello Live

The Monticello City Council, at their recent meeting, approved the yearly city street overlays, which are divided as close to evenly between the city’s wards as possible.

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Johnny Donaldson, age 68, of Monticello, died in the waters of Big Bayou Meto, southwest of Gillett, Tuesday morning.

According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Donaldson, died Tuesday, around 11:30 a.m, when he apparently fell into the water, near a floodgate, near the Arkansas river.  No one knows how he fell into the water.

Donaldson, who was fishing alone that morning, was best know in Monticello as a contractor, and as owner of several apartment complexes.

James Glenn, age 85, of Drew County, died Monday from injuries sustained Friday afternoon around 3 pm, in an automobile accident on HWY 293, near Selma Mill Loop.

According to Arkansas State Police reports, Glenn’s Ford Ranger failed to stop and ran into the rear of a loaded log truck, which had stopped, and was waiting to turn left.

Glenn was transported to Drew Memorial Hospital, and them transferred to Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock, where he died from his injuries.

Since we began taking our little “imaginary stroll” down historic North Main Street the Hyatt family name has emerged several times so I wanted to begin this week by enlightening readers about this legendary family’s history.

The first Hyatts migrated from Chester County, South Carolina, in 1846 when Rev. Benjamin Culp Hyatt bought 40 acres for $80 on Rough and Ready Hill and moved his family to Drew County. There he operated a boarding house, preached at Scrough Out Church, practiced medicine, taught school and was a carpenter.

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This late 1800’s French mirror was bought by the home owners (Museum) from a plantation in Vidalia, Louisiana, and was shipped by mule and train to Monticello. This mirror hangs in the living room above the fireplace in the Museum.

Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum.  We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 5 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

A call of “shots fired” came through the Monticello Police Department’s dispatch at approximately 1:00am on Monday.

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Click here for the story from SalineRiverChronicle.com.

MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

This week we’ll resume our journey south down historic North Main Street and begin at the handsome buff brick Tudor-style home sitting on the attractively manicured lawn at the beginning of the next block on the east side of the street. Built in the late 1920’s by Henry Trotter who married Lucille Simmons from Pine Bluff, the home is one of the most admired in the city. (Henry Trotter was a son to V. J. Trotter and grew up in the house that is now the Trotter House, a bed-and-breakfast.) In 1937 the young couple moved to Pine Bluff and Dr. Johnny Price bought the home. Dr. Price’s daughter, Ann, has many delightful stories and memories centered on growing up in the beautiful home. It was there that Ann was married to Dr. James F. Clark in 1964. (more…)

U.S. Representative Mike Ross and U.S. Senators Mark Pryor and John Boozman have announced the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department will receive a $2,721,435 federal grant to rehabilitate and improve 40 miles of railroad track along the Warren Branch of the Arkansas Midland Railroad, a short line railroad located in southeastern Arkansas. The grant will help fund improvements to tracks in Bradley, Chicot and Drew counties.

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Happy Birthday Cliff!!

From the Gang at Gibson & Keith, PLLC

This week we’ll continue our tour of Monticello’s North Main Street by returning to the north end of the street where the site of the new library sits and “strolling” down the east side of North Main Street.

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This is a Edison Amberola DX on display in the living room at the museum, It was produced in July of 1914 and retailed for $30 dollars. It was the first model that had a internal speaker instead of the “horn” and played a 4 minute plastic disc instead of the old fragile wax disc. This model was also the last of the Edison line to be belt driven and was said to be Edison’s “final achievement”.  He later came out with a more inexpensive worm gear driven model.

Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 5 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

Luna Bro’s Circus will put on an exciting performance for children of all ages, Friday at 7 p.m. in front of the Marketplace, at the intersection of HWY 425 and HWY 278.

Clown, animals, jugglers, vendors, and all types of circus entertainment will be presented.

Luna Bros. Circus thrilled the crowd in Monticello back  in 2008, and again in 2010.  The show has grown since that time, so come on out and see the many new attractions, and their new “Big Top”.

700 employees to be laid off.

Paper and Chemical Operations Not Affected.

Click here for the full story from AshleyCountyLedger.com

Local college football fans watching the Ole Miss vs. BYU game, Tuesday night, couldn’t help but smile when they heard the name of former Monticello Billie Brishen Mathews getting credit for a tackle on a Cougar’s kick returner, early in the second half of the nationally televised game.

Good work, Brishen.

Drew Memorial Hospital’s phase I and Phase II of the building modernization project were discussed. The new inpatient wing under construction should be completed and ready for occupancy by February 1, 2012. The allied health building should be completed and ready for occupancy by March 1, 2012. The final phase of this project, which is the new surgery center and a new concept and a line drawing, was reviewed. A cost estimate should be available within the next few weeks, based on the new concept of locating the Women’s Center on the front side of the hospital rather than on the backside and relocating the new geri-psych unit closer to the hospital.

Reports indicate that the construction of the new Pre-Post/Op area should be complete by October 1, 2011.

Reprinted from DMH Hospital Report.

This painting of the old courthouse hangs in the music room of the museum and was painted by Dr. James Smith DDS. An African-American, who was originally from, Chicago but lost everything to the great Chicago fire.

Dr. Smith then got a job with the government and was made postmaster in Monticello, where he also taught art classes to the wealthy. After he saved enough money, he moved back to Chicago and married his sweetheart.

The couple then moved back to Arkansas, settling in Little Rock, where Smith was a well known dentist, The couple had four children,including a daughter who was musically inclined and became the first African-American female composer to have her symphony played by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the late 1890’s.

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Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 5 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

Click here for the first edition of the series.

Last week we stopped our tour of North Main Street at the First Presbyterian Church, so we’ll pick up here this week. This location was formerly the site of the “first” hospital in Monticello – the Mack Wilson Hospital.

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Earlier, we “walked” the blocks of North Main that hold the First Presbyterian Church, the noted Allen House and the forlorn block that once was the home of Monticello’s earlier elementary schools in our “tour” of Monticello’s North Main Street.

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