Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: Crime Scenes and Criminals

Abstract

MANY PEOPLE THINK OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES simply as monuments or artifacts, not always realizing that these were places where people lived, worked, and, in some cases, committed crimes. There are numerous Arkansas buildings listed on the National Register that were either scenes of crimes or places where criminals paid for their illegal acts. One such place was the Pottsville Citizens' Bank (Pope County), which opened for business in 1913. On December 13, 1926, a man wearing a Santa Claus mask entered the lobby of the building and shouted Merry Christmas. He then ordered those present to raise their hands. Teller Roy Falls, believing this to be a prank, returned the holiday greeting and told the masked man that he would assist him in a moment. The ersatz Santa once again demanded that the bank's employees and patrons put their hands up in the air. Falls continued to ignore him, helping two customers with their transactions while the would-be robber was kept waiting. Not until the masked man was joined by an accomplice wearing a handkerchief over his face did Falls realize it was no joke. Although the pair escaped with $4,200 in cash, they were later apprehended in Oklahoma. They had used their ill-gotten gains to pay bills and had also shared some of the loot with family members. In March 1928, the Pottsville Citizens' Bank was once again the object of criminal intention when a drifter from Chicago went on a one-man crime spree in the small community. The itinerant desperado burglarized the Falls & Sinclair Store, Henry's Drug Store, the post office, and the train depot before unsuccessfully attempting to break into the bank by cutting a hole into the vault. The local newspaper noted that it took an outsider to smear Pottsville's reputation as a lawful community. The Pottsville Citizens' Bank, having been consolidated with the People's Bank & Trust Company of Russellville, was robbed a third time in the 1980s. The robbers fled the scene aboard an off-road motorcycle. They fared no better than their predecessors, however, and were soon brought to justice. On June 30, 1992, the institution, then a Worthen Bank, ceased operation. The building was then donated to the city for municipal use. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 28, 2002. After serving as, then ceasing to be, the county seat of Little River County, the town formerly known as Rocky Comfort, but more recently dubbed New Rocky Comfort by local residents and Foreman by the postal authorities and the Arkansas and Choctaw Railroad, once again became the county seat in 1902. The first civic building to be constructed was the New Rocky Comfort jail, erected in 1902. It used stacked six-by-two pine boards for the walls. …