All Souls Church is a historic church built in 1906, located on
Arkansas Highway 161, and
United States Route 165
U.S. Route 165 is a north–south United States highway spur of U.S. Highway 65. It currently runs for 412 miles (663 km) from U.S. Route 90 in Iowa, Louisiana north to U.S. Highway 70 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The route passes th ...
in
Scott, Arkansas
Scott is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lonoke and Pulaski counties in the central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Per the 2020 census, the population was 97. It is part of the Little Rock–North Litt ...
.
History
The religious needs of what became the Scott community were initially met by the 1880 construction of the Old Liberty Church, which was linked to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. This served until after the beginning of the twentieth century, when it closed, in part because of the poor roads in the area and the long distances the residents of the scattered plantations that made up the congregation had to traverse.
In October 1905, the women of Scott established a Sunday school in an old store building adjacent to the present All Souls Church. Attendance rose from seventeen to eighty in six months, leading area planters to establish a community church that would use preachers from the Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Christian (Disciples of Christ) denominations to officiate on a rotating basis, since none of the faiths could support a church of their own. Conoway Scott donated land for a new church building, and Charles N. Alexander donated construction materials.
The congregation hired Charles L. Thompson, who designed
Marlsgate Plantation in Scott, to draw up plans for the building. George Leifer was hired as builder, and the cornerstone was laid on June 27, 1906. The first service in All Souls Church was held on January 13, 1907, led by Methodist minister Forney Hutchinson.
[Alexander, Mrs. Robert H. “All Souls Church,” National Register of Historic Places registration form. On file at Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Little Rock, Arkansas. Online at https://www.arkansasheritage.com/docs/default-source/national-registry/PU3229-pdf (accessed Oct 20, 2021).]
The church building is a wood-framed structure with a buttressed ashlar stone exterior and a slate roof.
Charles L. Thompson chose the Gothic Revival style as the primary influence for his design of the church, which can be seen in the pointed-arched windows and the steep roofline. The church is a well-preserved example of vernacular
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...
styling in a rural setting.
It incorporates elements of the
Tudor Revival
Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...
style, seen in the use of half-timbered gable ends and slightly flared eaves. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on August 12, 1977.
It has maintained a
non-denominational
A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination.
The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...
Christian ministry since its establishment.
See also
*
References
External links
All Souls Churchofficial website
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
Gothic Revival church buildings in Arkansas
Churches completed in 1906
Churches in Pulaski County, Arkansas
National Register of Historic Places in Pulaski County, Arkansas
1906 establishments in Arkansas
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