Monticello Memories – Tour of Monticello’s Main Street # 27
February 26th, 2012 by Sheilla Lampkin
This week let’s look at the east side of the block of South Main beginning at East College Avenue and continuing nearly to East Bolling Avenue. The first lot where we begin now holds a quaint little duplex that once claimed a “refreshing” spot in Monticello’s history.
Sometime prior to 1853 that lot and some adjoining properties belonged to Benjamin Culp Hyatt, a founding father of the city. In 1853, Mr. Hyatt and his wife, Anne Wells Hyatt, deeded the property to Mr. Harrison Wells. Several owners followed until 1931, when the property came into the hands of Harry Hankins, Jr., whose father lived across the street. Mr. Hankins tore down an older house and built the duplex to originally serve as a single family dwelling.
Upon his death his widow, Annie Hankins, sold the house to the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Since the bottling plant was located just north of the home, the Coke folks bought the house and remodeled it into a duplex with their plant manager living in one side while the other side was a rental unit. (You may recall that “Coke” came to Monticello in 1935.)
In 1948, the house was sold again, this time to two ladies – Cleo Maxwell and Bessie Hendrix. Various others have owned and either lived in or rented the two apartments since that time.
Moving along the block, you can look far back and see what resembles a beige house with a screened porch. However, the eyes can be deceiving. The structure that appears to face South Main is actually a third of a triplex apartment building. The remaining two thirds of the building face College Avenue. I am told that the structure was built by Jeff and Linnie Hogue, longtime and respected personnel at Arkansas A&M College, now UAM. The Hogues originally lived in the Main Street apartment and had renters in the other two apartments. The triplex has since changed owners and now all three apartments are rental units.
The next house is much nearer to the street and has a unique front façade. It is known as the Bob Cherry house because he was the original owner. Mr. Cherry worked at the L.D. McQuiston Tin Shop that formerly sat immediately south of the railroad tracks where a parking lot is now located. Mrs. Wells (Ruth) Moffatt grew up in the home. It has had several other owners over the years.
Its soft beige look with the darker brown trim and the brick front porch, along with the dormers across the front, make the home most attractive. The windows are reminiscent of Cape Cod architecture.
The next house also sits far back from the street. This white frame home with the brick trim has a stately, calming look about it. Mr. & Mrs. Clay Mitchell built it after World War II. Mr. Mitchell still resides there.
Moving along the street, we come to the home known as the J. L. Hobgood house. Earlier that piece of land along with the brick duplex south of it was owned by a Mrs. McKinstry. Mr. McKinstry was her second husband. (Her first husband was the Mr. Haynes who once owned the abstract business in Monticello that is now located in the old St. Mary Episcopal Church building.)
Mrs. McKinstry originally had a wood frame house there. When it burned in the 1930s, her sons built the “Hobgood” house for her. Later on Dr. & Mrs. Hobgood owned the home. The Hobgoods were respected teachers who went to Alaska to teach for several years before returning to Monticello.
The once yellow, and now remodeled and painted a soft milk chocolate color, brick duplex that follows and serves as a dentist’s office was built by Mr. and Mrs. Foster Wright. The Wrights lived in one side of the house and rented the other. The arched entry doors, trim and other accents give it a very distinctive and pleasing look.
Foster Wright owned the M. F. Wright Motor Company which was located on East Gaines Street. Eventually that business became Ryburn Motor Company, then Bone’s Big A, and now the Ridgeway’s east parking lot.
Mrs. Wright was the daughter of Dr. Mardell Yates Pope who practiced medicine in Monticello for fifty years before he retired.
The regal two-story red brick home we see next on South Main was built by Dr. Mardell Y. Pope and is still known locally as the Pope house. It is a grand example of a Federalist style home. This design may have been influenced by Dr. Pope’s wife, Mayme, who he had met and married while attending medical school in Philadelphia. The home is believed to have been built in or around 1900.
Distinguishable by its red brick, white trim, green roof, tall chimneys, dormers and unique oval porch, it also has many wonderful interior features. All in all, the house was built to be a “thing of beauty to last forever.” Many different people have owned the home since the Popes. It now serves as offices for the Pomeroy & McGowin forestry business.
The next yellow brick house was built by the Guy Stephensons while he served as postmaster in Monticello. It replaced a large white house that had been there earlier. Mr. & Mr. Stephenson’s daughter, Madge, was the wife of Dr. C. C. Curry, the beloved and late history professor at Arkansas A&M College. The Currys lived in the home for many years. (Dr. Curry’s father, Jack Curry, originally built the Ridgeway Hotel.)
Now we come to the beautifully appealing grey house with white trim and the welcoming porches. This home was built by Harry Wells around 1910. Mr. Wells was a businessman who also served in one of the county’s clerk positions for a time. It has had various other owners over the years and is now the residence of the Mr. and Mrs. Paul Becker.
We’ll leave our journey here until next week because I have new information to add and want to give this charming home its due coverage.
Enjoy the spring like weather!
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