On Tuesday, August 21, I’ll be speaking about my book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas as part of the Arkansas State Archives’ Pen to Podium lecture series. In addition to the nearly 80 year history of the railroad in the state, I’ll discuss recent efforts to save the 100-year-old Rock Island depot in Perry. The program will also feature historic photos featured in the book and questions from the audience.
The lecture will be at the Department of Arkansas Heritage, 1100 North Street in Little Rock. The event begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by the discussion. It’s free and open to the public. Afterward I’ll be signing copies of my book. You can learn more about the event on the Arkansas State Archives website or on Facebook. Hope to see you there!
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 35-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
The Rock Island depot at Perry, Arkansas on March 13, 2018. Photo: Michael Hibblen.
Almost a year to the day that I spoke at a meeting of the Perry County Historical & Genealogical Society and learned about the group’s effort to move and preserve the Rock Island depot at Perry, Arkansas, we got news from the current owner of the building that our proposal has been approved. It has taken many conversations and a lot of money to pay for liability coverage, but it finally looks like the 100-year-old depot will be saved!
We don’t have a date yet to move the depot to an adjacent lot being offered by the city, but I’ll be sure to post that here. Now we’re starting a renewed fundraising effort to cover the next steps in the process. We’re also starting to think about how best to restore the depot to its former glory. READ MORE.
PREVIOUS ENTRIES ON THE PERRY DEPOT:
Effort to Save Former Rock Island Depot in Perry, Arkansas from Demolition (Sept. 2, 2017) – Features extensive photos I took inside the depot and details the early proposal to move it. This was before the city offered a property and at that time the idea was being floated to move the depot across the tracks to an area also owned by the Little Rock & Western Railway. READ MORE
Challenges Persist in Moving the Former Rock Island Depot at Perry, Arkansas (March 27, 2018) – Includes the first estimate from a company on the cost of moving the depot, which was unrealistic. I also update details of a rejected request for the Little Rock & Western to donate a piece of land. READ MORE
UPDATES ON THE PERRY DEPOT:
The Rock Island’s Perry, Arkansas Depot is Moved in Advance of Restoration (Oct. 28, 2018) – During the last week of September 2018, a house moving company placed steel beams underneath the Perry depot and moved it to a temporary location until we had a new foundation ready to place the depot on. This includes photos of the moving process and inside the depot. READ MORE
Grant Money Will Ensure Former Rock Island Depot in Perry Gets Back on the Ground (April 28, 2019) – At a time when fundraising was stagnant, we got great news as the Arkansas Economic Development Commission awarded the project nearly $10,000 to create a community meeting place and museum inside the depot. READ MORE
Preparing to Place Rock Island Depot at Perry, Arkansas in New Location (Jan. 5, 2020) – Extensive work was done to build up a city-owned piece of land to place the Perry depot on. Record flooding threatened the depot in its temporary location and showed the ground where it would be placed needed to be higher than originally planed. READ MORE
Relocation Completed of Rock Island Depot in Arkansas, Now Fundraising Begins to Repair Roof (March 1, 2020) – In January, the house moving company returned to Perry and placed the depot in its new location. Then a block mason built a foundation underneath, with the depot now ready for renovations to begin. The next priority is repairing the roof. READ MORE
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 35-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
The Rock Island depot at Perry on July 7, 2018. Unfortunately in the days before this photo was taken, it appears someone stole the depot sign that featured the final “The Rock” logo that had adorned this side of the depot for 43 years. Photo by Micheal Hibblen.
After a year of talks, including what seemed like a never-ending stream of new concerns being raised by different entities, it appears an effort to move and preserve the 100-year-old Rock Island Railroad depot in Perry, Arkansas is on the verge of happening. There are still a few things that will need to be finalized, but it appears we have overcome the biggest hurdle, which has been having enough insurance coverage to allay the liability concerns of the depot’s current owner.
A big thank you goes to the many people who have made donations to our project. At this point we’ve raised $5,230 through our online Go Fund Me account. We have also received checks totaling $2,601 at last report from the treasurer of the Perry County Historical & Genealogical Society. As I explain if you click on the link below, we’ll still need to raise more money after the depot is moved, but this gives us enough to pay for the insurance and make the first installment to the house-moving company.
We plan to move the depot about 150 feet to an adjacent piece of land owned by the city of Perry, which will keep it along railroad tracks and make it more likely to be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The goal is to turn the building into a museum to tell the history of the community, and the Rock Island’s connection to it. READ MORE.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 35-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
The logo for “Rock Island in Arkansas,” which incorporates a 1972 photo taken by Bill Pollard at HH crossing in Little Rock.
For a couple of years I’ve been working on my podcast series “Rock Island In Arkansas,” though I’ve actually been recording interviews with former employees of the railroad for 30 years. The series focuses on the history of the Rock Island in the state, its operations, and features the first-hand experiences of those who worked for the railroad.
The first episode looks at the regular gatherings of former employees which continue 38 years after the Rock Island was shut down in 1980. In 2016 and 2017 I attended the annual picnics held in Sherwood, Arkansas, setting up a table to record as many stories as possible.
I also feature much of a 1988 interview I recorded with former conductor and brakeman L.T. Walker, who also served as local chairman of an employee union. He helped form the Rock Island Club in Arkansas after the railroad was no more.
EPISODE 1: Recent reunions of former Rock Island employees and a look at the career of former conductor and brakeman L.T. Walker are featured on the debut episode. Also included are interview segments with John Henderson, Jerry Oates, Bob Franklin Jr., Joe Rook, Bill K. Robbins Jr., Bill Anderson, and music from central Arkansas duo Fret & Worry.
I hope to produce a new episode of the podcast periodically and envision having a total of about 15 episodes. This first episode is only available here, but with the second episode, you should be able to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 35-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
The Perry depot in May 1965, photographed by Clifton Hull and recently scanned by Bill Pollard.
I’ve been working with the Perry County Historical and Genealogical Society as members have tried to come up with a plan to move and preserve the former Rock Island depot in Perry, Arkansas. The century-old building is an incredible relic of a different era in America when rails were the connection to the outside world.
After the Rock Island was shut down in 1980, that stretch of track became the Little Rock & Western Railway, which built a small locomotive servicing shed behind the depot. But today the shortline wants to build a new shop there and is giving the preservationists a limited time to move the depot. They’ve found a possible location a few hundred feet away, but an estimate for moving it is much more than they were hoping for. You can read my latest update, which includes a couple of recently scanned vintage images. Or to get more background on the project, including photos of the interior of the building, see my post from last August. The depot, which still has the semaphore train order signals, is the Rock Island’s last Arkansas depot still standing west of Little Rock.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 35-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
Thanks to J. Bradley Minnick, host of the radio program Arts & Letters, for this exquisitely produced, hour-long look at the Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas. I was able to discuss the history of the railroad and include segments from several interviews I’ve recorded over the years with former employees. Featured on the program are L.T. Walker, Joe Rook, Guy Winters, as well as railroad historian Bill Pollard. Several pieces of original music are also included, which were specially recorded for this program. On the Arts & Letters web page you can also see a slideshow of several photos from my book “Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.”
AUDIO: Hear KUAR’s Arts & Letters program on the Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas, which first aired on March 23, 2018.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 35-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
On the web since 2002, this is the online home and archive of broadcasting news veteran Michael Hibblen. Starting in 1989, I've worked for newspapers, radio and TV stations around the country. Today I'm Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS. This website tells the story of my career, including audio, photos and videos. Also featured are various interests I've researched, primarily about broadcasting and railroad history.
My Book
Released by Arcadia Publishing in 2017, Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas delves into the history of the railroad which once had a huge footprint in Arkansas, as well as other states in the middle of the U.S. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ MORE
For 13 years, from May 2009 to December 2022, I worked for NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. That included 10 years as News Director while continuing to anchor and report. You can read and hear reports from that time on Little Rock Public Radio's website.
