BRTC’s Project REACH site located at Dalton is set to open on April 5. The REACH site will be open on Tuesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and every second Saturday of the month from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. through the month of October.
Project REACH—Researching Early Arkansas Cultural Heritage—is a historic preservation project conducted by Black River Technical College. Through multi-year grant funding from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council (ANCRC), the restoration of two early log structures from Arkansas’ Territorial era have been restored and are available for tour.
The two donated structures were brought to the attention of BRTC as a result of the Early Arkansas Settlement Study. This study was funded in part by a grant awarded to the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas with funding provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Department of Arkansas Heritage. In the course of this 2003-2004 study, the Rice-Upshaw House (built 1828) and the Looney-French House (built 1833) were both identified by dendrochronology to have been constructed during the Arkansas territorial period.
Each structure was identified as a unique example of early log building traditions in Arkansas. Both houses, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were donated, along with significant items of material culture, to BRTC by descendants of the families who built them.
The REACH site is located at 4800 Hwy 93 Pocahontas, AR. For more information, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at (870) 248-4026.
PHOTO: William Looney Tavern
Black River Technical College is a 2-year community college in Pocahontas and Paragould which offers associates degrees and certificates in general education and technical and career education. The College houses one of the state’s law enforcement training academies and fire science academies. BRTC has 2,500 full- and part-time students.