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
Dr. Gann’s “Gift of Love”
Pictured above: Dr. Dewell Gann Sr. By Cody Berry Eighty years ago on April 18, 1946, the Benton Courier reported the office of the late Dr. Gann, Sr. was to be given to the City of Benton by his son Dr. Gann, Jr. and his wife. The Gann Building was considered very “dear to the hearts of the people of Benton and Saline County,” as was the memory … Continued
Burt Reynolds in The Saline Courier
One of the coolest things to happen in Central Arkansas in the early 1970s was the filming of a movie called “White Lightning” starring Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty. When the film was released in 1973, Reynolds was already a big star. He had just wrapped on the film “Deliverance,” and posed for his famous centerfold in Cosmopolitan magazine. The plot of “White Lightning” was very … Continued
What is the Centennial Edition of The Benton Courier?
The Gann Museum is one of a few places where copies of a very special edition of The Benton Courier can be purchased. But what is it that makes this edition so special? The Centennial Edition of the Benton Courier was first published on March 25, 1937. The Gann Museum sponsored its creation in celebration of the Sesquicentennial of Arkansas statehood as well as that of Saline … Continued
Who was L.B. White?
Above image courtesy of the Saline County History and Heritage Society. By Cody Berry L.B. White was a very important figure in modern Saline County history. He was a longtime newspaperman who owned The Benton Courier for a long time. The following facts come mostly from his obituary in the Arkansas Gazette in March 1957. Lowell Bartow White was born November 10, 1872, in Denver, Colorado to Thomas Benton White and Lois … Continued
The Fires of 1946
By Cody Berry On January 31, 1946, an article about a local “firebug” appeared on the front page of The Benton Courier saying that there had been three fires in the past week. At 7:00pm, the Friday before, the office of Dr. J. W. Ashby on West Sevier Street was set on fire. Rufus Land, who lived … Continued