Architects of Little Rock: 1833-1950

H. Ray Burks

RAY BURKS WAS BORN in 1890 in Monticello, Arkansas, and educated in the Monticello public schools. He attended college and studied architecture at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts at Washington University. His early training in architecture began in Monticello in 1915 working for W. A. Halley, Architects. In 1917, he moved to Little Rock and began working for James H. Bliss, Architect, in that year. During the later part of World War I, he worked at 88 ◆ H. RAY BURKS H. Ray Burks Dr. Vinsonhaler (left), dean of the University of Arkansas Medical School, and H. Ray Burks (right) at the dedication of a new building in MacArthur Park in 1935. Courtesy of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences at Little Rock Archives. Black and Veach Engineers at Camp Pike (now Camp Robinson). After the war he worked again for Bliss, until he opened his own practice in 1922: H. Ray Burks, Architect. He developed a statewide practice and designed many well-known projects both in Little Rock and throughout the state. In Little Rock, some of his better-known projects included the University of Arkansas Medical School in MacArthur Park; the original building of the Fine Arts Museum, now the Arkansas Arts Center; one of the early buildings for the Arkansas School for the Blind on Markham Street; the Stebbins and Roberts Company office building and factory; and the original Baptist Hospital. He was especially noted for his design of a number of residences around the state. In Little Rock, his work included homes for the Gunns, Easts, Pickenses, and Baileys. Statewide, he designed for families like the Fullertons in Warren and the Rushings in El Dorado. Burks designed courthouses for Drew County, Pope County, and Arkansas County; schools at DeWitt and Fordyce; and the Monticello City Hall. He also worked with the famous Arkansas architect Edward Durrell Stone to design the annex addition and penthouse at the Frederica Hotel on Capitol Avenue in Little Rock (later the Sam Peck, now the Legacy). In 1945, Burks formed a partnership with Bruce Anderson; they practiced as Burks and Anderson, Architects. The firm’s most significant project was War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Burks continued in this practice until his death in 1948 at the age of fifty-eight. H. RAY BURKS ◆ 89 Museum of Fine Arts in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. Constructed in 1935 in the Art Deco style, it was designed by H. Ray Burks, Architect. Charles Witsell’s archives. 90 ◆ H. RAY BURKS University of Arkansas Medical School in MacArthur Park, Little Rock. Constructed in 1935 in the Art Moderne style, it was designed by H. Ray Burks, Architect. Courtesy of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences at Little Rock Archives. Arkansas School for the Blind, West Markham Street, Little Rock. Built in 1939 in the Colonial Revival style, it was designed by H. Ray Burks, Architect. Courtesy of Janet Warlick/CameraWork. ...