Lonoke County Courthouse

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Ah, the stories that are contained within every small town courthouse. This one bucks the trend by actually being in the city that goes with the name of the county. Ever notice that about Arkansas? Searcy isn't in Searcy County. Hot Springs isn't in Hot Spring County. Conway isn't in Conway County. And so on...

Anyway, the point is, old courthouses are beautiful, this one included.

Strange Abandoned Church, Lonoke

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Here's an artifact of a building I spotted as soon as we drove into town. We stood on the corner for a while, pondering over it. It's in a strange, rambling craftsman/tudor style that I've never seen used on a place of worship. Turns out it's listed on the National Register for Historic Places, and it was built in 1916. More after the jump...

Restored Rock Island Depot, Lonoke

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Our drive along Highway 70 paralleled the old Rock Island railroad. Many of the towns along the highway had beautiful depots in outstanding conditions. Lonoke's in particular was in excellent condition and had been turned into a modest museum with meeting spaces. It's a 1915-or-so structure built to replace a late 1800s depot that burned. A photo of the interior after the jump.

Under the Harahan Bridge

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Here is a place left abandoned by humans for more than half a century...

Former Bald Knob Hotel

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I know it's been a while. I'm sorry. I've been more active over here.

Anyway, this is the old Bald Knob Hotel. It's located near the railroad in what was once Bald Knob's "Skid Row," a strip of bars, brothels, and boarding houses. This one was probably all three at one point. The real business was upstairs, if you get me. As the current owner says, it really put the "Ho" in "Hotel."