Architects of Little Rock: 1833-1950

P. C. Spaulding

P. C. SPAULDING AND HIS brothers illustrate the difficulty of connecting the pre–Civil War builder/ architect and his work. Many of these builders and architects were considered “resident architects” because when they moved here they planned to stay, at least for some period; they moved their families here. However, despite extensive research, very few buildings of these earliest architects have been connected to specific men. The Spaulding brothers are reflected in the 1860 Pulaski County census. P. C. was then twenty-nine years old. His brothers H. S. and W. S. were listed as carpenters. All three were born in Canada. An Arkansas Gazette article of February 19, 1859, relates that they had been in Little Rock for about a year, suggesting arrival in approximately 1858. Spaulding’s newspaper advertisement in the same issue read as follows: “P. C. Spaulding, Architect, Little Rock, Arkansas. Will furnish Plans, Specifications and Contracts, for Private Residences, School Houses, Churches, and County buildings throughout the state.” The 1859 article praises Spaulding’s operation: Among the most valuable of our home improvements is the planing mill of the Spaulding Brothers. It is propelled by a fine steam engine, does the work of a hundred men, and the best part to the proprietors is that they cannot carry on their various contracts for building without its aid. This is a fact speaking as to the improvement of the city. The Messrs. Spaulding are accomplished architects and builders. And here the story of the Spaulding brothers would have ended, but for a lucky research find. Wilson Stiles, a Little Rock architectural historian, called our attention to a millwork catalog published in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1869. It was relatively common for millwork companies to provide cost information for the mass-produced moldings, doors, windows, mantels, and columns they produced. But the Cincinnati firm, Hinkle and Company, took an P. C. SPAULDING ◆ 17 P . C. Spaulding Christ Church at Fifth and Scott Streets, Little Rock, Arkansas. Constructed circa 1850 in the Gothic Revival style, it was designed by P. C. Spaulding, Architect. From Hinkle and Company: New Book on Building (Cincinnati, OH: Elm Street Publishing Company, 1869). additional step. They provided small engravings of each building across the country for which they had furnished materials. In the firm’s 1869 catalog, entitled Hinkle and Company: New Book on Building, three of the Little Rock buildings pictured are attributed to Spaulding. The first of the attributed structures is the most problematic. It is Christ Episcopal Church. S. H. Smith and Company was listed as the builder, Spaulding as the architect. Christ Church was the first Episcopal church in Arkansas. The first building was a combination of brick nave and wooden, Gothic Revival tower. The church was constructed in at least two phases. According to a history of Christ Church, the brick nave was begun around 1841, and both structures were completed by around 1850. But Spaulding’s work, one would think, must have been done after 1858, when the brothers moved to Little Rock, and before 1869, when the catalog was published . So either Spaulding came earlier to Little Rock than the Gazette understood or there was additional architectural work on Christ Church between 1850 and 1869. Or, the Hinkle catalog was simply wrong. The other two Spaulding structures pictured were both residences, one that of Dr. W. A. Cantrell in Little Rock. The two-story house was on Scott Street, northeast corner at Seventh Street. The other was the residence of the Honorable E. H. English of the Arkansas Supreme Court. There were two other Arkansas buildings in the catalog, though not attributed to Spaulding. One was St. John’s College, designed by Adolphus Heiman, east of the US Arsenal campus, and the other was a residence in Helena. 18 ◆ P. C. SPAULDING W. A. Cantrell residence at the northeast corner of Seventh and Scott Streets in Little Rock. Constructed circa 1850 in the Italianate style, it was designed by P. C. Spaulding, Architect. From Hinkle and Company: New Book on Building (Cincinnati, OH: Elm Street Publishing Company, 1869). P. C. SPAULDING ◆ 19 Honorable E. H. English residence on Louisiana Street between Eighth and Ninth Streets in Little Rock. Constructed circa 1850 in the Italianate style, it was designed by P. C. Spaulding, Architect. From Hinkle and Company: New Book on Building (Cincinnati, OH: Elm Street Publishing Company, 1869). Catalog of Hinkle...