The organization tasked with preserving the history of Pike County has received a small financial boost to help defray costs of utilities and more assistance may be coming.
During its September meeting, the Pike County Quorum Court voted to give the Pike County Archives and History Society $200 per month for the remainder of the year with a plan to look at helping more during the county’s 2016 budgeting process.
Court members voted to give the $200 monthly payment to the organization after hearing a request from John Gould, PCAHS president. Gould gave an overview of how the organization operates solely on donations, grants and the help of volunteers all in an effort to “preserve the history of Pike County.”
The Pike County Archives and History Society was founded and incorporated in 1986, and is a 501c3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to collecting and preserving the unique history of Pike County and the state of Arkansas.
“Our objectives are to promote interest in the history of Pike County and surrounding areas as well as house original documents from the county government and family genealogy,” according to a PCAHS statement. “We work with anyone who wants to know about the history of Pike County and surrounding counties. We help family members to discover their ancestors and answer emails and phone calls of all those that need our help. Every three months, we publish a booklet and mail to our membership. We take a section of Pike County and write stories and develop family tress. It’s all about the history of our great county.”
PCAHS, located in the county’s annex building across from the Pike County Courthouse, houses more than 500 original county record books dating from 1895. There is also a collection of materials for historical and genealogical research which include family histories, old manuscripts, old Bibles, census records, maps, publications from various other counties, marriage and death records and books.
The Pike County Courthouse burned in1895 and all initial records were lost. But, now there is microfilm of tax records of Pike County from the state for the years prior to 1895, as well as census records of other counties and some counties of other states.
PCAHS recently purchased the microfilm of all of the Washington Post newspapers, which was located in Washington, Ark., and was in business around the time of the Civil War. The microfilm is available for public use.
The PCAHS facility is open to the public five days a week and is manned by volunteers only. There is no charge for use of the material or the facility.
Current PCAHS officers include:
John Gould, president; Rick Floyd, vice president; Darlene Watson, secretary; Janice Womack, treasurer; Charlotte McCauley, grant coordinator; and Dorothy Partain, correspondence secretary.
PCAHS can be reached by calling (870) 285-9157 or by visiting the website:
