Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 04/07/99

SUMMARY

Koon Building #7 is being nominated to the Arkansas Register under Criterion C with local significance by virtue of both its distinctive vertical, split log construction and its direct association with Henry Hillary "Pappy" Koon, the local farmer and carpenter who built these unique structures. As such, it is associated with the historic context The Vertical split log Buildings of "Slabtown," Arkansas, 1935-1945 and the historic significance of these properties noted therein.

ELABORATION

Built c. 1940, the building known as Koon Building #7 was constructed by local farmer and carpenter Hillary Henry "Pappy" Koon as one of several vertical split log buildings he constructed for residents of the relatively new community that sprang up along State Highway 167 south of Sheridan after it was paved by the state.

It was this building and the others built like it that gave the community the name of "Slabtown," as it was mistakenly believed that these buildings were of slab construction, which in fact they were not. Rather, the split vertical logs are notched into a sill below and plate above that supports the roof, and the logs serve as the load-bearing structure of the building. It is this unique construction method that distinguishes these buildings architecturally and thus the reason for their nomination.

Koon Building #7 has suffered such substantial alterations as a frame addition and a concrete block addition, both placed at its western end, and the covering of a gabled log section to the north with modern plywood. It is due to these changes that it is being recommended for the Arkansas Register of Historic Places.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Contract Let On 167 South of Sheridan," Sheridan Headlight, Thursday, October 31, 1935, p. 1, c. 6.

Goolsby, Elwin L., Our Timberland Home: A History of Grant County, Arkansas, Rose Publishing, Little Rock, 1984.

Interview with Mrs. Ruth Stubbs, June 30, 1998.

Interview with Mrs. Faye Williams, June 30, 1998.

Interview with Mrs. Alice Donaldson, June 30, 1998.

Interview with Mrs. Alice Donaldson, November 18, 1998.

"Thirty New Houses South of Sheridan," Sheridan Headlight, Thursday, May 2, 1940, p. 2, c. 4.

WPA - Arkansas County Histories Collection, 1936-1941, Part V, Grant County.