Salty Artists: Taya Covey
By Cody Berry Taya Covey grew up in Paron, Arkansas in Saline County. Covey earned a Bachelor of Social Work from UA-Little Rock in 2022. After having her daughter, Covey returned to school to complete her Master of Social work degree. Covey is now a licensed mental health therapist at Chenal Family Therapy in West Little Rock.1 Covey said that she … Continued
Salty Artists: Jo Helen Fletcher
By Cody Berry Jo Helen Fletcher was born Jo Helen Kays on October 5, 1945, in Hot Springs. Jo graduated from Benton High School in 1963 and went on to study at the Memphis Academy of Art. She graduated with a BA from Little Rock University (now UA Little Rock) in 1967 before getting her master’s degree from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia in 1977.1 After college, Jo started teaching … Continued
13 Books for the Big 250
By Cody Berry In honor of the forthcoming 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026, I wanted to make some reading recommendations. So, just as there were thirteen original colonies, I have chosen thirteen books, some of which changed the way I thought about the American Revolution and the people who lived it. Many are available … Continued
The Library’s Modern Era
By Cody Berry On August 25, 1998, a vote was taken on a .7% mileage increase and a quarter cent countywide sales tax to fund improvements to the Saline County Library. It passed and later that year three Benton businessmen donated 5.2 acres of land on Smithers Drive for the new branch. The Library Board decided to leave the Palace Theater building on September 15, … Continued
Salty Art at the Gann Museum
By Cody Berry This summer I wanted to do something a little less heavy and give people something to just enjoy without needing a history lesson to do so. Saline County is home to many, many people who love to create. So, I decided to use the Gann Museum to shine light on them for the summer. Thanks to help from my friends at the … Continued
A Founder by the River: Judge Charles Caldwell
By Cody Berry Over Memorial Day weekend my parents decided that they wanted to go eat at Riverside Grocery on Highway 5. During our meal there I told them that I had read about a nearby cemetery which had the oldest marked grave in Saline County. They asked me where it was, and I showed them on my phone … Continued
The Gann’s Librarian: Mrs. Ella Daugherty Pitcock
By Cody Berry As we have discussed before, after the death of Dr. Gann, Sr., in 1945, the Gann Building was given to the City of Benton in 1946 to house the Gann Memorial Library. Mrs. Ella Daugherty Pitcock was its librarian during that whole period. She was born Ella May Hill at Stacy Lake in Independence County, Arkansas. When Ella was three years old, the family moved to … Continued
Mrs. Gann and the Train
Pictured above: Mrs. Martha Gann. By Cody Berry Sometimes when I’m researching one thing, I come across something completely new to me. Last week when I was on the library microfilm machine looking for articles about the library itself, I came across a gem of a story about Mrs. Martha Gann and an inaugural train in 1933. On March 16, 1933, the Benton Courier reported that Mrs. Gann … Continued
The Courier Gets A New Building
By Cody Berry In October 1986, the Benton Courier moved into the building we all know on the corner of Cross and Market Streets in downtown Benton. It marked the first time in its long history that the paper had been “published in a building constructed for the expressed purpose of putting out a daily newspaper.”1 The new building was designed by local architectural … Continued
The Birth of the Saline County Library
By Cody Berry The Saline County Library wasn’t created by the county or by the City of Benton. It was a direct outgrowth of a group of ladies called the Junior Fortnightly Club in 1931. The Junior Fortnightly Club was organized on February 6, 1930, with eleven original members, but they soon gained their goal of sixteen members in their first year. In March … Continued