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News • Arkansas • United States • 2013-05-02

Gilbert Celebrates Centennial on May 4-5

Gilbert, Ark.) – Water, railroads, religion, community, politics, and tourism have shaped the landscape of Gilbert since its incorporation in 1913. The town has survived floods, the Great Depression, a proposed dam that would have put it underwater, and population fluctuations that could have left Gilbert a ghost town. The only incorporated town on the Buffalo National River, Gilbert has plenty to celebrate at its centennial event May 4-5.

The land where Gilbert was established was first homesteaded in the mid-1800s by families from the north and east growing cotton, corn and other staples. Then the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad came to the Ozarks in 1901-02, connecting Seligman, MO with Helena, AR, and providing the Buffalo River region with a new lifeline.

This river valley was covered with virgin timber, and the railway gave means to transport it. Large timber and railroad tie yards opened. Pencil companies located purchasing offices at Gilbert and bought thousands of cedar logs along the river. The lengths of wood were branded and floated downstream during high water. At Gilbert, they were corralled, placed on flatcars, and shipped nationwide.

Additionally, several mining operations in the nearby Maumee area hauled ore by wagon to be loaded on railroad cars. Zinc, manganese, and other minerals were also mined and shipped from the region. According to a pictorial history book on Gilbert, “Near Maumee, the largest copper nugget ever taken in a single piece (at least up until that time) was loaded on a flat boat, moved up river to the railroad bridge, loaded on a flatcar and taken to the World’s Fair.”

The town prospered, and incorporated on April 12, 1913. It was named for Charles Gilbert, the railroad superintendent. While the flood of 1915 did considerable damage to the cedar yards and some farms, and even washed the town’s lone saloon away, these were Gilbert’s heyday years.

In 1920, a migration of religious pilgrims from the upper Midwest changed the scene in Gilbert. Some 40 families entered the community with their leader, John A. Battenfield. “He was a charismatic preacher with extensive study in Revelations,” Bonnie Baker explains. She and her husband Bill were born and raised in Gilbert and live there today, as does her sister Kattie Moore. They are descended from these Christian settlers, who created a new school and printed the “Kingdom Harbinger,” a weekly religious journal that was circulated worldwide. This group built most of the homes that are now standing in Gilbert.

“It was in the center of commerce for the whole area in the 20s,” Baker says. Her grandparents had a boarding house for people coming in off the railroad. “People would come from Marshall and Harrison over here just to eat. It was a great place to eat.”

Gilbert’s golden years boasted two hotels, two general stores, two grocery stores, a new school, grist mill, roller mill (which produced “Sunbeam” brand flour), blacksmith shops, timber yards, a canning factory, two cotton gins, up to three doctors, shoe shop, barber shops, depot, saw mills and a ferryboat across the Buffalo.

The Great Depression caused some population decline; but, Moore says Gilbert had about 100 residents in 1940. She adds that growing up in Gilbert “was the best. We all loved those dear hearts and gentle people that lived in our town.” She says there were always a bunch of children and babies. Because it wasn’t a “through” town - the road to it ended at the river - kids ran around all over and everyone helped take care of everyone. “It takes a village. That’s true,” Moore says=2E

Gilbert suffered greatly when the railroad was discontinued around 1948. It managed to survive, unlike the town of Rush, established in the 1880s after zinc mining started along the Buffalo River, but now a ghost town under the protection of the National Park Service. It was a sense of community that held Gilbert together through the 50s and until the national limelight turned to the Buffalo River.

The Corps of Engineers proposed damming the river and had some politicians and individuals behind that idea. But many individuals, landowners, groups, politicians and federal agencies opposed the plan and held that some streams needed to remain free-flowing. The fight took place over many years with much of the debate coming to a head in the 60s and early 70s.

While there was disagreement within her family, Moore says she was not for the dam because “it would ruin some of the most beautiful country. That was our entertainment. I was on that river all day every day, fishing. I didn’t want that ruined, the farmland around it, the bluffs, the flowers that grow around it. Uh uh, I didn’t want it.”

Dam proponents lost that battle. The Buffalo River was designated by Congress as America’s first national river 41 years ago. The act ushered in a future in tourism for Gilbert. Allowed to remain as Mother Nature intended, the Buffalo National River provides a beautiful space for hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, caving, fishing, wildlife watching and much, much more.

Along the Buffalo, the National Park Service oversees 95,730 acres. There are three designated wilderness areas within that acreage. Tall limestone bluffs in earthy hues of gray, tan and brown are defining features of the Buffalo. Rushing whitewater is interspersed among sections of calmer water as the river wends its way 135 miles through the lush green valley that is home to elk, deer, black bear and other woodland creatures. It is a prime example of one of the last free-flowing streams of the Ozark region.

And Gilbert too retains its charm. Sunday afternoon strolls down the railroad tracks along the river to the railroad bridge may no longer be standard entertainment; yet, the pace of life in this small town is still much the same. In fact, the population has dwindled to only about 14, according to Ben Fruehauf.

Fruehauf owns and operates the 1901 Gilbert General Store, which looks like a place out of time. This is his 25th year as owner. The building was originally owned by the Mays-Baker families, when an inside corner also served as the post office.

Bill Baker’s mother was the postmaster for a long time. “Bill’s mom could tell stories about conversations around the wood stove,” Moore says with a laugh.

Today, the store and post office still comprise the “business section” of town. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the popular spot continues to function as a general store and as home to Buffalo Camping and Canoeing, a registered concessionaire on the Buffalo National River that rents cabins, RV spots, canoes, kayaks and rafts. It also contains the original post office boxes, and other memorabilia collected over the years, adding to the ambiance. In addition to supplies, Gilbert General Store offers maps and clothing.

Gilbert is also home to several domiciles that have been restored and opened as vacation rental cottages, as well as the Gilbert Cafe, and an RV campground.

“This town is the most regressive progressive community in the state,” Fruehauf says. “People come here because you have the general store, homes built in the twenties. It’s just a step into the past and that’s the beautiful thing of it.”

“Tourism is where it is,” Fruehauf adds. “The river is running great. We’re floatable all year.”

Gilbert is on the middle section of the Buffalo National River and is popular with individuals and families for canoeing, kayaking and rafting. Fruehauf points out that hiking trails, Tyler Bend Visitor Center, the drive-in in Marshall (one of just three in Arkansas), horseback riding, and nearby Blanchard Springs and Ozark Folk Center State Park make for great day trips.

Gilbert proudly proclaims itself the “coolest place in Arkansas,” because of cool temperatures recorded at a weather station in the town. Data was collected on a daily basis for the U.S. Weather Service by local residents for many decades. About 12 years ago, Gilbert became the sister city to Bride Isle of Man.

Gilbert is located at the end of Ark. 333, three miles east of its intersection with U.S. 65 marked by Ferguson’s Country Store and Kitchen.

Gilbert Centennial Event

Gilbert’s 100th birthday party will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 4. It will include notable speakers on historical matters, a “Century of Fashion” Parade, horse-drawn wagon rides, face painting, cornbread and beans supper, a Dutch-oven dessert cook-off, music, and the placing of a time capsule to be opened in 2063.

Attendees can also take a peek inside the 100-year-old Press Building, stroll through the art gallery and exhibits, check out souvenir T-shirts and cups designed by artist Wendel Norton, watch video-taped oral histories, and tie a quilt.

Two packages will be up for auction: 1) Weekend stay in Anna’s House, dinner on Dry Creek and a canoe trip on the Buffalo for up to eight people; 2) Three night stay at Gilbert RV Park & Campground, dinner at the Gilbert Cafe and a canoe trip on the Buffalo for four.

There will be drawings for a guided fishing trip, Gilbert Homecoming T-shirt quilt, art by local artists, Buffalo River Outfitter canoe trip, Silver Hill Float Service canoe trip, gifts from Coursey’s Meat & Big Springs Restaurant and more.

At 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 5 there will be a special church service. For details on these activities, visit www.gilbertcentennial2013.com.

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