Bankhead route in Arkansas

[Parsa]

Map number 15.

This is a map that combines sections of the 1935 editions of the 7.5-minute North Little Rock quad and the 7.5-minute Little Rock quad.
The map shows the downtown areas of Little Rock and North Little Rock.

The route through North Little Rock and Little Rock differed for my sources. I will detail each route below.

Dunn Guide (the red path in Little Rock).
The road came in from the east on Washington Avenue (aka 1st St) in North Little Rock.
It proceeded west as far as Maple St where it turned south to cross the Arkansas River bridge. This area is called Argenta (which was actually the town's name between 1906 and 1917). The original bridge was aligned with Maple Street in Argenta and Main Street across the river in Little Rock. I find no information on the original bridge, but a new seven-span concrete arch bridge was built at the site in 1924. This 1924 bridge was replaced by the current bridge (which is a bit farther east) in 1973 (orange bridge crossing).
After crossing the Arkansas River, the road went west on Markham Street. At the intersection of Markham and Center Streets, the zero point of Little Rock is reached. This was at a gas station on one corner. Proceeding west one more block, the road turned south on Spring Street. It went 2 blocks south to 3rd Street, then 3 blocks west to Gaines Street (mileage 0.4). The highway followed Gaines south to 14th Street. However, this path is broken in two places (magenta sections). Firstly by the Federal building complex (between 4th St and Capitol Ave), and secondly by the I-630 freeway (between 10th and 11th). A detour down Broadway Street (US 67 and Business US 70) can be used instead of Gaines. This is also shown in orange.
The road turned west on 14th Street on its way west out of town (mileage 1.0).


Locke guide (the green path in Little Rock)
This followed the simplest path. It traveled by the same route as the Dunn guide in North Little Rock.
After crossing the Arkansas River bridge it reached the 0.0 mark at Main and Markham Streets.
Rather than turning west, it continued south on Main Street all the way to 14th Street (mileage 0.9). It then followed 14th St west out of downtown.


Automobile Blue Book (1923, volume 4) (the blue path in Little Rock)
The Blue Book path came from the east into North Little Rock on Broadway (aka 3rd St). This is evidently the later route as it eventually became US Highway 70.
It turned south at Maple (mileage 154.1), and crossed the Main Street Bridge into Little Rock.
The Blue Book's 0.0 mileage point is also at Main and Markham Streets.
It continued south to Capitol Avenue (mileage 0.3), taking Capitol west all the way west to the Arkansas State Capitol at Woodlane Street (formerly Cove St, mileage 1.2).
At 7th Street (mileage 1.4) it turned west one block, then continued south on High Street. This jog no longer exists, likely due to the I-630 freeway. However, Woodlane Street curves west a block to become Martin Luther King Drive (which was once High Street).
MLK Drive continues south to 14th Street (mileage 2.0), at which point it rejoins the other routes.


     

[Parsa]

Maps of Little Rock

Here's a circa 1920 Automobile Blue Book map. This is closer to the Locke and Dunn period, and it still shows the road coming into North Little Rock on Pike Avenue (Lincoln) and Washington Avenue. 5th Street is Capitol Avenue. Oddly, it shows 15th and 16th Streets rather than 14th Street as all the other sources do.

     


The next map is a smaller city map from the 1923 Automobile Blue Book (volume 4) that I've been using for mileages.

     


The map below is a 1925 Rand McNally map from an auto trails booklet (which accompanied an auto trails map). The Bankhead route is 44. Number 10 is the Southern National Highway, and 51 is the Lee Highway. 7 is the Lone Star Route (not the Lone Star Trail), and 48 is the Pershing Way.

     

[Parsa]

The next stretch is Little Rock to Hot Springs.
I should note that although neither the Rush & Rush guide nor the Dunn guide show it, there was a possible connecting route directly connecting Benton with Arkadelphia, bypassing Hot Springs. This is only shown on some Rand McNally auto trails maps. The 1925 RM atlas does not show it, but many of the regional RM auto trail maps do show it. This connection was evidently used by the Southern National Highway. It's also the route given by the 1923 Automobile Blue book to travel from Little Rock to Texarkana.

The first map is the Dunn guide map. As with many of the Dunn guide maps, the scale radically changes across the map. For example the road section on 14th Street in Little Rock is from mileage 1.0 to 2.1, a 1.1 mile length. However, a similar length on the map  is from 38.4 to 48.3, which is 9.9 miles! That's a full order of magnitude greater. The map dates to around 1921.




Next, follows the Locke guide map. This is one of the 1918 maps in the book, so it's a bit older. However, the right seems to be the same.




Finally, below is the description from the 1923 Automobile Blue Book (volume 4) for the section between Little Rock and Benton. The ABB follows the direct, Southern National Highway, route through Malvern to Arkadelphia. I'll use the description there to later describe this connector.


0.0   Little Rock, Main & Markham Sts. South on Main St.
0.3   Capitol Av. at trolley; right.
1.2   End of street at state capitol; left.
1.4   7th St.; right and next left onto High St.
2.0   14th St., at filling sta.; right.
2.5   Park Av., at trolley; left.
2.8   End of street; right.
17.4  Fork; right.
23.4  Fork; left.
24.0  End of road; right.
24.2  Benton, 4-cor. at far side of courthouse; ...

[Parsa]

Map number 16.

This is from the 1935 Little Rock 7.5-minute quad. West is upward and north is to the right. This 7.5 minute Little Rock topo map covers the northeast quarter of the 15 minute Alexander quad. I used this larger scale map instead of the Alexander quad because it is clearer.
The map shows the area on the west side of Little Rock, AR.

The Dunn guide and the 1923 Automobile Blue Book show a path south on Park St, then west on Wright Avenue. Note: immediately east of Little Rock Central High School, between 14th and 16th Streets, the road is one-way, southbound only.

The Locke guide shows a path straight west to Woodrow Street. Woodrow Street was called May Street in the 1920s.

The Arkansas state penitentiary shown on the Locke guide map was used between 1910 and 1933, and known as "The Walls." The land for the first state penitentiary was used for the current state capitol site. The site of The Walls state penitentiary is also still owned by the government, and is used for the Arkansas State Geological Survey among other things.

The red line shows the route of the Dunn guide and Auto Blue Book. The green line shows the Locke guide path.

Red = Dunn guide. Blue = Auto Blue Book 1923. Black mileage = Locke guide.


    

[Parsa]

Map number 17.

This is from the 1941 Alexander 15-minute quad. It is oriented normally, with north at the top. There are three different 15-minute topos that were surveyed from 1934-35. I chose the 1941 edition because it has the road in red, has better contrast, and therefore is much clearer. The regular 1935 edition is almost identical, but none of the roads are shown in color, which makes them hard to see. Only the contour lines are really clear. A slightly older map, also likely from 1935 was evidently a provisional map. It does not include the northeast quadrant at all, because that section is covered by the Little Rock 7.5-minute map. The scale is 1:48000 on this map, but it shows no more detail than the other two. It is also difficult to see the road on this one.
The map shows the area southwest of the Little Rock, AR region.

There seems to be an error in the mileage of the Dunn guide at Brodie Creek. This is the only substantial bridge and creek west of Rock Creek, and the mileage for it would be exactly on 7.9 miles. I believe the 8.9 mileage given is a typographical error for the bridge, and the error exists for the opposite direction mileage also. It could possibly be McHenry Creek, but that is well beyond 8.9 miles, and much closer to Fourche Creek than the map indicates.
 
Red = Dunn guide. Black mileage = Locke guide.


    

[Parsa]

Map number 18.

This is from the 1941 Alexander 15-minute quad.
The map shows the area north of Bryant between Little Rock, AR and Benton, AR.

Red = Dunn guide. Blue = Auto Blue Book 1923. Black mileage = Locke guide.

    

[Parsa]

Map number 19.

This is from the 1938 Benton 15-minute quad (1:62500).
The map shows the area northeast of Benton, AR.

Red = Dunn guide. Black mileage = Locke guide.


     

[Parsa]

Map number 20.

This is from the 1938 Benton 15-minute quad (1:62500 version). Another 1938 quad exists at a scale of 1:48000. The latter map is much harder to read, however.
The map shows the area in the vicinity of Benton, AR.

There are multiple routes shown through Benton.
The Bankhead enters the area from the northeast along Military Road.
• The red route is that of the Dunn guide. It turns south along East Street, goes west on Sevier Street to the court house square, turns south on Main Street (no longer possible as it's one way), then jogs west a very short way on South Street to meet River Road.
• The green route shows the path of the Locke guide. It continued past East Street along Military Road until its end at Main Street. It then turned south on Main Street, past the court house, and also jogged west on South Street to River Road.
• The blue route shows the route used by the Automobile Blue Book of 1923. This one is odd in that it turns south on Lillian Street until its end at Sevier Street. It then heads west to the southwest corner of the court house square ("far side of courthouse"), and then turns south on Market Street. It continues south on Market until the junction with River Road, which it also follows southwest. This route has no obstacles due to one way streets.
• The court house square two-block perimeter is one way counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise). It is shown as a magenta line.

Unfortunately, the old Saline River bridge is out, and the Bankhead route is discontinuous here. Two long spurs exist on each side of the river, both called River Road. The railroad crossing southwest of town is no longer in use, but the RR crossing signs still exist. Evidently, there was a southerly-bound road just west of the river bridge. Traces of this road still exist, including a railroad underpass, but it no longer seems to be a through road.
Since the Bankhead Highway path no longer goes through, a detour, shown as an orange line, should be taken west along what was once US 67. This follows South Street west, crosses I-30 on the overpass, and continues along South Street southwesterly until the junction with Arkansas State Route 229. AR 229 was the original path of US 67 and old AR 88 as well. Follow this across the Saline River. The road will bend south and cross under I-30, becoming US 67 once more. Procede southwest along US 67 to the junction with River Road (on the east) and Pawnee Road (on the west). These are both the Bankhead Highway.

Red = Dunn guide. Blue = Auto Blue Book 1923. Black mileage = Locke guide.




    

[Parsa]

Map number 21.

This is a dual map image. On the left is the Benton 15-minute quad from 1938. On the right is the Haskell 7.5 minute quad from 1974 (1984 revision). I did this because the US 70 alignment has partially wiped out the winding original Bankhead path.
West is upward, and north is to the right.
It shows the area between Benton and Hot Springs, Arkansas, just west of Benton.

The route can be driven through to US 70 from US 67. The section east of US 67 dead ends at the Saline River bridge, and the detour along US 67 (shown in orange) must be used, as described in the previous post.

Red = Dunn guide. Blue = Auto Blue Book 1923. Black mileage = Locke guide.

     


Below is a detail of the east section at the split of the Bankhead and the Southern National Highway. Some Rand McNally maps showing Arkansas include this direct path from Benton to Arkadelphia via Malvern as a branch of the Bankhead Highway.

     

[Parsa]

Map number 22.

This is the Lonsdale 7.5-minute quad from 1972. I could find no 1930s or 1940s map for this section.
West is upward, and north is to the right.
It shows the area between Benton and Hot Springs, Arkansas, midway between the two towns.

Red = Dunn guide. Black mileage = Locke guide.

     

[Parsa]

Map number 23.

This is the Fountain Lake 7.5-minute quad from 1972 (1976 revision). There is also a snip of the 1978 Lake Catherine quad, since the old highway strays south of 34°30' for a short space. It is oriented with north down and to the right. This isn't my preference, but it let me fit the whole topo map strip onto one planning map.
This shows the area between Benton and Hot Springs, Arkansas, not far east of the Hot Springs area.

This map shows where the old highway made three railroad grade crossings. The Locke guide map even says "cross RR 3 times." This is not evident on this 1970s topo, but the 1912 15-minute map of the Hot Springs vicinity does show the three crossings. I've included a small clip of this map below the main map. Note, however, that the older road beyond the easternmost crossing does not follow the Bankhead (old SR 88) route eastward, but rather follows the rail line and East Branch Gulpha Creek. It crosses the railroad several times as it moves up the valley northeastward.

Red = Dunn guide. Black mileage = Locke guide.

     

     

[Parsa]

Map number 24.

This is the east side of the Hot Springs North 7.5-minute quad from 1966 (1976 revision).
This shows the area just to the east of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Red = Dunn guide. Black mileage = Locke guide.

[Parsa]

Map number 25.

This is the combined map of the Hot Springs North and Hot Springs South 7.5-minute quads from 1966 (1976 revisions).
This shows Hot Springs, Arkansas and the surrounding area to the south.

The highway comes in from the east along Spring Street, which later became State Route 88. According to a 1945 city map, SR 88 continued west along Spring Street. The Bankhead merged from Spring Street to Benton Street. It seems in the Dunn and Locke maps to just merge directly onto Benton. This would be possible via a diagonal street called Gentry Street, which no longer exists. This street appears on 1918 and 1945 Chamber of Commerce city maps. However, the mileage from both the east and west indicates a turn on Grand Avenue, which was a major street even in 1918. This is only a block away from Gentry Street, and the map mileages are often off by more than this distance anyway. Going west, it's possible to turn west on Autumn Street, which was once Benton Street. Convention Blvd did not exist until relatively recently. (It's not even on this 1976-revised topo map.) The extreme west side of Autumn Street is one way westbound only (shown as a magenta arrow), so I've shown the Convention Blvd detour for eastbound travel as an orange line.

From this point, the Dunn guide follows the red line to Central Street. The Auditorium shown is not the large convention center complex, and was once the site of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad depot (on the south side of Benton Street just west of Cottage Street, now Opera Street). The highway went south on Broadway and west on Market to Como Square. The huge Como Hotel once stood on the south side of the square on Market between Central and Ouachita. This was the 0.0 point for the Dunn guide.

The Locke guide evidently followed the same path as the Dunn guide up to Malvern Avenue. Since the primary route in the Locke guide goes via Malvern the 0.0 point is at the Citizen's National Bank building where Malvern and Central nearly meet at Bridge Street. This beautiful wide but shallow old bank building still exists on the north side of Bridge Street. The Locke guide shows two routes to Arkadelphia. The western route is a narrow line following the same path as the Dunn guide. The main route, indicated by a thick line, goes to Malvern along US 270. This path is shown with a purple mileage and arrow. I may get around to showing this route later in this thread. The Locke guide also shows an extension north to one of it's sponsors, the Majestic Hotel and Bath House. This building, though no longer a hotel, still exists. Even the big Majestic Hotel sign atop the building remains.

The direct path to Arkadelphia, according to the Locke guide, was a more difficult drive. Considering all the river and stream crossings, I can see why. It was a very winding path in 1918. The Malvern route went over hills, but was shorter to get to a populated place.
The exact path over the Ouachita River is a bit of a mystery, but I'll discuss that on the next map. It's likely that Higdon Ferry Road was once the main road to that ferry, but all maps show the eastern path on State Route 7.

I haven't been using the 1928 Automobile Club of Southern California strip maps from 1928 so far. These were for the 1928 motorcade from San Diego to the Broadway of America convention in Memphis that year. I haven't used them because they often show later US 70 alignments, and for the path to Hot Springs, the northern Arkansas 5 and 7 path. Now, however, the path is pretty much the same as the Dunn guide, so I'll indicate these mileages in green.

Red = Dunn guide. Black mileage = Locke guide, including western path to Arkadelphia. Purple = the eastern route to Arkadelphia via Malvern. Green = 1928 ACSC strip map mileages.

[Parsa]

Map number 26.

This is the Hot Springs South 7.5-minute quads from 1966 (1976 revisions).
This shows the area immediately south of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and covers Lake Hamilton, the old Ouachita River crossing.

All the mileages on this map are very suspect due to the change in Highway 7 after the construction of the dam and Lake Hamilton. The red triangles show possible locations for the bridge before the lake appeared. There was a beautiful arch bridge across the lake prior to the current one, but this was torn down. The railings appear as decorative fencing in a nearby property. I have no real clue at this time where the old bridge stood. It may have been near the current bridge, or it could have been at the site of the ferry crossings for the old Higdon Ferry. The ferry site is shown on the pre-1900 maps and reprints that continued into the 1940s. State highway construction maps from the 1920s may show this. The red path is taken from a road shown on the older topo maps.

Red = Dunn guide. Black mileage = Locke guide (western path to Arkadelphia)
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[Parsa]

Here is the Dunn guide map for the Arkansas State Route 7 path between Hot Springs and Arkadelphia. North is at the bottom. This highway has been disrupted by the creation of several large reservoir lakes. Since there are very few landmarks except the town of Bismarck, it's pretty hard to identify the mileage points along the way.

            


The Locke guide has two routes. North is at the bottom. The main dark one on the left is the eastern route along current US 270. The thin one on the right is the same path as that of the Dunn guide above. it follows State Route 7.


    


Lastly, we have a 1928 ACSC map, that is one of the only maps that shows the route and it's bridges before the lakes existed. North is at the top.
[This map is posted for educational, non-commercial purposes only.]