News

Labor Day Weekend Hours

Lakeport will be open for tours this Saturday at 10 am with the last tour given at 2pm. This is our last Saturday this summer that we will be open.

We will be closed Mon, September 6 for the Labor Day Holiday. Regular hours will resume Tuesday, September 7.



Restoration News August 2010

Lakeport’s restoration continues. The final three doors were installed last week: two back doors delivered after restoration last year and one upstairs door that was waiting to be rehung. The back doors’ exteriors have been faux grained in oak, as they were originally. The original black paint on the interior has been preserved. The kitchen door is especially interesting, because of the wear at the bottom. New wood replaced the wear on the exterior, but on the interior the wear can still be seen. Period rim locks have also been installed on these two doors as well.

Faux Grained Oak Exterior Doors; Office on Left, Kitchen on Right
Restoration and Wear Pattern at Base of Kitchen Door

We also had shutter hardware installed. The hardware allows for the shutters to be shut and locked from the inside. Since all but two of the original shutters were gone, we relied on photographic evidence for reproduction of the hardware.

Shutters and Hardware, ca. 1973 from Arkansas Historic Preservation Program

Shutters and Hardware, August 2010

In other news, Annie Paden, the grand-daughter of Annie Taylor Worthington, donated her grandmother’s bound sheet music. While the book was bound in 1892, much of the music dates to Annie’s time at Lakeport (1877-1888). See our blog entry on the Lakeport Piano for more on Annie Worthington.

Page from Annie T. Worthington Bound Sheet Music Book

And finally, thank you to Chicot County Judge Mack Ball for adding gravel to our road.

We need your “car wheels on our gravel road”



Bridge Opened Last Week…and other things

The new Hwy 82 Bridge opened last Wednesday, August 4 around 5:30 pm. Greenville’s WXVT has the video.

Lakeport was featured in Kat Robinson’s blog, Tie Dye Travels, and will be on Little Rock’s KARK at noon today. When the video shows up on their website, I’ll add a link (Update: video link added 8/13/10) Kat has blogged about good eats in south Arkansas, visited the site of the Japanese interment camp at Rohwer, and reviewed the Cow Pen (our neighbor) for the Arkansas Times.
Also, Lakeport will be open Saturdays in August and the first Saturday in September (4th) from 10 am to 2 pm (last tour at 2).


Bridge May Open First Week in August

According to a news source (WXVT-Greenville), the bridge opening has been delayed and will likely open next week–August 1-7.

http://www.wxvt.com/global/story.asp?s=12887342

Rain Stalls Bridge Opening

Posted: July 28, 2010 07:13 PM

Two days after a ribbon cutting, transportation officials say the opening of the new Mississippi River Bridge, connecting Greenville, Miss., to Lake Village, Ark., may be delayed.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation had said the bridge would open on Wednesday, July 28. However, as the Monday dedication grew closer, officials said the opening would be at a later, unspecified date. During the dedication, they hoped to have it ready by the end of the week.

On Wednesday, MDOT project engineer Steele Davis said inclement weather has delayed completion of the final stages of construction. That work includes paving the road connecting the new bridge to U.S. Highway 82. Davis says the opening may be during the week of Aug. 1-7.



5K Run/Walk on New Bridge

Some scenes from this morning’s 5K Run/Walk across the new bridge:

Looking down the River: Arkansas on the Right, Mississippi on the Left

I just love expansion joints

Old Bridge


Bridge Opening…more details

New — Invitation
Old — Postcard Commemorating the Old New Bridge

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New details about the Bridge opening from the Lake Village Chamber:

A ribbon cutting for the new Hwy 82 Mississippi River Bridge will take place this coming Monday, July 26th at 10am on the center of the bridge. Everyone and anyone is invited to attend! (Don’t worry about parking, there will be hwy department folks there to guide you. Some of the parking may be on the bridge, but in my opinion, you should still wear your walking shoes because it’s not certain how many people with attend the event, so some walking is inevitable.) A stage will be set up at the center of the bridge where the ribbon cutting will take place.
The city of Greenville, MS is hosting a 5K run/walk to commensurate the grand opening on Monday, July 26th at 6am. Come one, come all, it’s FREE! The run/walk will start on the Greenville side of the bridge.
Brianne Connelly
Director
Lake Village Chamber of Commerce


New Signs At Lakeport

The Arkansas Highway Department installed two news tourist oriented directional signs yesterday: one at the entrance to Lakeport and the other for eastbound traffic on Hwy 82. The Highway Department will install a westbound traffic sign when the contractor has completed the removal of the povement for the old alignment of Hwy 82

New sign at Lakeport’s entrance

New eastbound sign on Hwy 82 (at foot of new bridge) for Hwy 142 turnoff
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Bridge Opening and Saturday Hours

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Lakeport will be closed during the Bridge Dedication Ceremony–10 am, Monday, July 26, 2010. We will reopen following the ceremony.
We will be open Saturdays the rest of the Summer and through the Fall. As of right now, Saturday hours are 10 am until 4 pm; but we may reevaluate those hours later.
Call us or email us if you have questions: 870-265-6031.


Remembering the Old Bridge; Getting Ready for the New

Alvin, Katie & Mary Jane Ford on Greenville Bridge, ca. 1952. Photo found behind Dining Room Mantel at Lakeport
This post is a companion to today’s Southern Fried Blog, where Rex Nelson looks back at the old Greenville Bridge. The old bridge is slated for demolition later this year, since no one has offered to relocate it.

Greenville-Lake Village Bridge postcard, ca. 1955.
As the bridge opened in 1940, the Delta Democrat-Times (Greenville, MS) reported the ferry operation of the Greenville Bridge & Ferry Co. was transporting “200 to 300 cars, plus trucks and busses” each day.
Delta Democrat-Times, September 15, 1940
“Visit Beautiful Lake Village Over the Free Bridge,” Delta Democrat-Times, October 29, 1950
As the new Bridge opens, Lake Village would like to welcome visitors again. Come see Paul Michaels, the Cow Pen, Lake Chicot, Lakeshore Cafe, Rhoda, and Lakeport Plantation.

The new bridge will be dedicated at 10 am on Monday, July 26 and will open to traffic on Wednesday, July 28. Lakeport will be open Saturday, July 31. I’ll post more about our Saturday hours tomorrow.

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Bridge Opening Dedication set for July 26

Bridge Dedication — July 26 — 10 am


Greenville US Highway 82 bridge dedication planned for July 26

By Associated Press

4:23 AM CDT, July 13, 2010

GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) — The new U.S. Highway 82-Greenville Bridge is scheduled to open for traffic on July 28.
The dedication ceremony is July 26. The first contract was awarded in 2001 and construction began in 2002.
Washington County Board of Supervisors president Paul Watson says transportation officials in Mississippi and Arkansas are working on the details.
The four-lane, cable-stayed bridge has been many years in the making. It was authorized when the existing bridge, built in 1940, was determined to be a navigational hazard and obsolete.
The old two-lane bridge crosses the Mississippi River just south of a sharp bend. Tow boats have difficulty completing that turn and straightening up in time to clear the bridge. Numerous barge/bridge collisions have happened over the years.