Historical peek at Fayetteville’s Dickson Street
Posted on Sunday, August 31, 2008
Once Upon Dickson Street: An Illustrated History, 1868-2000, by Anthony J. Wappel, Phoenix International, 330 pages, $ 22. 50 West Dickson Street is one of the few, if not only, 10 blocks in Arkansas where a person can learn physics on a Thursday, partake in too many “Call the cabs” on Friday, watch a live show on Saturday and pray in church Sunday morning. East Dickson Street isn’t too shabby itself, with its historic homes and Civil War mementos. Once Upon Dickson Street, a 330-page time machine released this summer from Phoenix International, takes readers block by block down Dickson Street, starting on the east where many of Fayetteville’s historic homes stand. If it weren’t for East Dickson Street, where many of the city’s pioneers resided, Fayetteville wouldn’t be what it is today.
Anthony J. Wappel does a wonderful job re-creating a street that has touched so many lives from scraps found in old telephone books, tax records and newspapers. With the help of Ethel Simpson, a University of Arkansas librarian, the book is full of photographs and advertisements that awe those who have only heard of Dickson’s grander or more derelict days.
From 405 E. Dickson St. to Gregson Lodge, a University of Arkansas dormitory topping the other end, Wappel tells the story of every address in a few paragraphs. That’s one of the few downsides to the book — at the end you want to know more.
What happened to the cowboy towering over the entrance of the Swingin’ Door ?
Chester’s was considered upscale ? (How ironic it was replaced by a “young professionals” bar. )
When did Brewski’s come into the picture ? It seems like an institution (knock on wood ).
Wow — Roger’s Rec has been around forever.
The only other downside to Once Upon Dickson Street, if you can call it that, is the map at the beginning of each chapter. The maps show who lived where at a certain point, but if you’re directionally challenged, flipping back and forth from a story to match it with the map is frustrating.
But Wappel’s work also solves several mysteries for the casual Dickson Street visitor, such as the men behind the name and area’s nickname.
Dickson Street is named after Joseph L. Dickson, whose house at 2 W. Dickson St. was used as a hospital during the Civil War. Change being no stranger to Dickson Street, where lumberyards and laundries once outnumbered bars, the site of Dickson’s house was eventually gobbled up by Central United Methodist Church expansions.
One man’s nickname has lived on for more than 100 years.
For some reason, T. Fred Shuler became so popular with university students when he ran the Live & Let Live Drugstore that they called the whole area around the popular soda fountain “Shulertown.” Shuler left Fayetteville in 1905 for Missouri by way of Colorado, but his nickname lived on for 100 years. It’s only in recent years, with the construction of condos and new bars, that the name has faded.
For the people who always wondered about the odd scarcity of gas stations in the area, apparently the several filling stations lining Dickson Street were torn down or converted.
At first glance, Once Upon Dickson Street appears to be a coffee-table book, a must-have for all University of Arkansas alumni. It’s only when you reach West Dickson Street that the book comes alive, more like an old diary you’ve found 20 years later.
The book is a memoir of the people who lived and worked there as well as played there.
My love affair with the street started shortly before my 16 th birthday. To celebrate the big day, my closest friends and I rented a limousine to take us from Rogers to cruise in style down Dickson Street. That’s all we did — before turning around for home. The street’s energy worked its way into our blood.
I went on to have my first college class in Kimpel Hall, and first job at the computer lab in the Gibson Annex. Numerous New Year’s Eve and bachelorette parties were had on Dickson, and I even met a few boyfriends there. Five years after graduating college, I’m nearly finished paying off my credit card tabs.
It is impossible to read this book and not get lost in reminiscing — oh, how I miss breakfast at Jerry’s. Or laugh at the many amusing stories, for example, Collier’s Drug Store was the first business in town to have a “magic door.” Tree protests turn out to be a tradition in Fayetteville, deserving four mentions in the book. Residents in 1900 protested city efforts to cut down a large elm tree in front of Southern Hotel — an area now home to Rogers Rec. The citizens won, but the tree was cut down in 1947 to make way for the pool hall.
For a while, one of the homes on the street operated as a brothel. The Gilbert Hotel was a lively place in the 1910 s, until the police shut it down and fined the owner $ 25. The boardinghouse was torn down in the 1940 s.
Unfortunately, Wappel had to stop somewhere. He’s inserted newer information in some of the biographies, such as noting the transformation of the Ozark Brewing Co. into Hog Haus brew pub. Skimming through the book, I found nothing on my favorite hangout. Who knew there was life before Ryleigh’s.
This book was a long time coming. Wappel started his research in 1988 as work started on the Walton Arts Center. In the 20 years that it has taken for the book to be published, many of the bars and restaurants that instigated the legends Dickson Street fans tell have closed. Forever doesn’t last long on Dickson Street.
From Wappel’s book, it’s obvious that every generation has staked a claim on Dickson Street, only to later lament that it’s nothing like it used to be. That can be said now, in the era of paid parking lots and fewer live music halls.
One can only hope that another author with Wappel’s dedication comes along to update Once Upon Dickson Street.
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