Burns Park

Last weekend we took the kids to Burns Park in North Little Rock to visit a few playgrounds and burn off some energy. We stopped and had a little picnic at this spot, which while not as exciting as the Rocket Slide did look kinda neat with the infrared camera:

Judsonia

The small town of Judsonia sits along the Little Red River in White County. It's a surprisingly old town, dating back to the 1840s. The town's location along the Little Red made it an early stop for steamboats traveling up the river, and today two old and historic bridges still cross the river here in Judsonia.

The Judsonia Bridge was built in 1924 and is the only cantilever swing bridge in the state. Back in the olden days, the bridge would actually swing across the river to allow taller boats to sail by (mostly cotton barges).



In 2007 the bridge's structural integrity was determined to be comprimised, and the bridge was closed to traffic. But it was repaired (with keeping with the bridge's historic character) and reopened to traffic in 2013.



From the bridge you have a nice view of the other historic crossing here, the Union Pacific - Judsonia Bridge. This Through truss swing bridge was built in 1912 and still serves rail traffic. In fact, a train rumbled across the bridge while we were there.



Near the bridges is the old commercial core of Judsonia, which contains a few older buildings. This area saw significant damage in 1952 from a massive tornado. It's said that every building in the town was damaged by the twister, except for one (the Methodist church).



On the road heading out of Judsonia, you drive right by an old abandoned motel called the Texas - Ill Motel. The big sign for the hotel is rusting away, and has some true Route 66 vibes. Oddly enough, the motel sits along US 67, and get its name because it sits at the halfway point of the road that runs for 1,560 miles and connects Texas and Illinois.







The motel was built in the 1940s, and was a popular place to stay for a few decades. But the motel closed in the 1990s and has been abandoned and empty ever since.



Next door to the church was this old gas station, which was also abandoned and left alone to battle the elements.



Driving towards Searcy we passed by another faded old sign for a motel.



The old motel looks to have been torn down, leaving this rusty sign as the only reminder that something once stood here.

A Few More

Here are a few other Infrared pictures, taken over the last few weeks. This one was actually taken in Pine Bluff, but I forgot to include it in the post that was written a few weeks ago. So here it is instead:



And one day I took the new camera out to Burns Park on a hot and muggy summer afternoon. I stepped out of the air conditioned car to get a few quick pictures of the covered bridge:





And a few weeks ago we went up to Searcy to visit some family, and stopped by this old barn in rural White County.

Gould

From Pine Bluff, I tried to head out to take a few more pictures. But I got turned around and missed a turn, and the phone GPS sent me on a weird direction that I hadn't planned on following. Whoops. The change in route did head by a few interesting places, so I diligently pulled over and tried to get a few pictures when I could.



And this shell of an old barn, which looks like it won't be standing much longer.



I headed into the small town of Gould and stopped at the old Gould Auto Parts store, which was completely covered in vines.



Even the front door was nearly hidden away.



For a comparison, here's how the same place looked during a visit back in 2014:

Pine Bluff

The other day I had some free time so I made a quick trip down to Pine Bluff, which is a great place to take pictures. Pine Bluff has lots of old, unique and interesting architecture.



This was a sign for Henry Marx Co., a clothing store that opened way back in 1895. The store closed after 101 years in business, in 1996.



Nearby was this tile mosaic, the final remains of what was once a building here. In the background is the Hotel Pines.



This building sat near the busy train tracks...



Pine Bluff has unfortunately been given an unkind and unfair reputation. But despite that, the city seems to really be trying to regain its status as the preeminent city of southeast Arkansas. In the past few years, the city has unveiled a streetscape project that has expanded sidewalks and added new landscaping and light fixtures along Main Street. Along with that, the city has also opened a state-of-the-art Pine Bluff/Jefferson County library, the Pine Bluff Aquatic Center, the 601 Main Street Plaza, and an expansion of the Arts and Science Center Art Space.

During the rennovations of a building along Main Street, an old ghost sign was exposed when a modern facade was removed. The sign was for the Sweetland Confectionary, which once boasted the coffee in town.





Just across the street is another old sign, this one for a local attorney.



Just around the corner was this row of neat old buildings, which includes the Masonic Temple (built 1902-1912).





A few blocks away is the Jefferson County Courthouse, which was built in 1856 and is one of the oldest courthouses in Arkansas. It was almost destroyed by fire in 1976, but the original facade was saved and restored.



One of my favorite buildings in Pine Bluff is the old Saenger Theater, which opened in 1924. Would love to see this old gem get fixed up and preserved.





While heading out of town I passed by this old building and got a quick question. A Google search for the Pine Bluff Iron Works found a Facebook page, but sadly the last post was in 2011 saying that "It is with a heavy heart to report our 107year old business is officially closed."