Three years after damaging storm, Fort Smith's original library remains for sale

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the date that a fallen tree damaged the library.

Three years after an oak tree toppled in a storm and hit it, the first library for the city of Fort Smith and then the headquarters of the local TV station remains for sale. The site was also where a house that was the home of the “Hanging” Judge Isaac Parker stood before a tornado hit it in the late 1800s.

The Fort Smith Carnegie Library was built at North 13th and C streets in 1907.

Since the tree hit it in May 2021, the building is being offered today at less than its assessed value.

For Marcus Woodward, a Fort Smith resident who would grow up to be a historian, the memories were manufactured from childhood, scurrying up and down the library stairs. Peering out the windows into the world he read about between those walls. He remembers reading the Greek historian Herodotus at the library.

Books would not be protected today. The view of the sky might be possible from the second floor. The building needs work. A tarp covers the roof.

History of the Fort Smith Carnegie Library

According to the Fort Smith Public Library’s website, “the cornerstone of the new building was laid on March 23, 1907, a gala day in Fort Smith history. The building design was modeled after that of the Carnegie Library in Guthrie, Oklahoma, which opened in 1902. The Carnegie City Library opened its doors for business on January 1, 1908, and the formal dedication was on January 30, 1908."

The home of Judge Parker that earlier stood on the property was destroyed by a tornado in 1898. The library purchased the land for $4,750.

Today, a for sale sign is in front of the building by Realtors Sagely and Edwards. The asking price of the building is $499,000. A windstorm in May 2021 toppled a 40-foot oak tree that came crashing onto the roof, after which the price was reduced.

The Sebastian County Assessor’s office has the value of the building listed as $750,000 and it is 20,000 square feet. The owner is Cape Publications Inc. of Tysons, Virginia. KFSM-TV 5 News was the last occupant of the building.

Woodward, who is a former history teacher at Darby Junior High and Chaffin Junior High, volunteers at the Fort Smith Museum of History, wearing costumes and giving living history lessons, many about cannons and the Civil War. He also taught history at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Woodward said he would like to see the building restored and the roof repaired to prevent damage to the walls and interior.

The Fort Smith Library moved to a new building in 1970.

According to the library website, construction on the new building at 61 S. 8th St. began April 10, 1969. At 34,000 square feet, it was three times the size of the Carnegie building. It opened for business on Sept. 8, 1970, with the name changed from Carnegie City Library to Fort Smith Public Library. The official dedication ceremony was held Nov. 13, 1970, with many prominent citizens in attendance including Senators John L. McClellan and J.W. Fulbright.

Today, the library is located on Rogers Avenue. Construction on the new 67,000-square-foot Main Library located at 3201 Rogers Avenue began in 1999. It opened with a weekend of dedication ceremonies and celebration on February 23-25, 2001, reads the library’s website.

Who was the "hanging judge" Isaac Parker?

Those from Fort Smith know about him. And the biographical information on the U.S. National Parks Service website gives a good summary of the man who was a frontier judge, remembered for the days of hangings when crowds gathered on the lawns on Sundays to watch the gates of hell open. The gallows to eternity. Frontier justice. The gallows are open to the public at the old Fort Smith Courthouse today on the National Parks grounds. A sign still tells visitors to respect the gallows as "instruments of justice.”

For 21 years, Judge Isaac C. Parker held the bench of the U.S. Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Plenty of history of Judge Parker can be found in Fort Smith. The federal courthouse used by Parker from 1875-1889 has been an attraction for decades where the gallows still stand.

Woodward took photos of the old house recently, remembering days spent reading there.

He posted photos on Facebook.

“Photos of the site of Judge Parker’s house (destroyed by the Cyclone of 1898), the Carnegie Library where I grew to love books while wandering up and down the stairs. At the very least it looks as if the gaping hole caused by an ancient oak falling on the Carnegie part of the building over two years ago has been sealed although since I could not climb to the top I cannot say for certain. Sad, sad, and very sad,” Woodward’s post reads.

And today, the TV antennae tower comes with the building.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Damaged by a storm, Fort Smith's original library remains for sale