The 500 Building

Originally built in 1927, business partners Evelyn Pearson and Mr. Mortenson built the Hotel Pearson which is today known as the 500 Building. Mrs. Pearson and Mr. Mortenson had been partners in the hotel business for two years in Texas when they sold their hotel businesses and came to Russellville. The exact reason for their move remains uncertain, but debt and a lack of success in Texas could provide the answer as creditors with pressing claims of debt led to Evelyn Pearson and her partner Mr. Mortenson to form the Hotel Pearson Company in 1927. Pearson and Mortenson sold a portion of the stock to their creditors, but Evelyn Pearson remained the major shareholder in the company. The Hotel Pearson had a vegetable garden and pigeon cages located outside. During the construction of the Hotel Pearson, an artesian well was struck and the well provided fresh water to the hotel for decades. Hotel rooms ranged in price between $1.00 to $3.00, and guests used community bathrooms although a few rooms contained bathrooms of their own. The town of Russellville sits in between the two Arkansas cities of Fort Smith and the capitol of Arkansas Little Rock, and the railroad goes straight through Russellville as well. The 500 Building stands near the railroad tracks and in downtown Russellville. This prime location of the building was well-selected by Evelyn Pearson and Mr. Mortenson as Russellville was a prime spot for businessmen travelling by train to stop and rest or even sell their wares. Those travelling from Memphis, Tennessee, could usually expect to find themselves in Russellville by the end of the day, and many would choose to spend the night in the Hotel Pearson instead of a long night on a train.

While the Hotel Pearson could be found in the 500 Building, the building also contained a variety of other stores and businesses. The first floor of the hotel rented out space to various businesses that came and went including a restaurant, a barbershop, a women’s hair salon, an ice creamery, a shoeshine stand, a hat store for a time, and a hotel-owned telegraph office for those seeking to quickly send word out to friends, loved ones, or colleagues. The Hotel Pearson was a one stop destination where anyone could get a haircut, grab a meal, send out a message, grab a coffee in the hotel-owned coffee shop, and get a good night’s sleep without having to take a step outside the building. Beyond the various services to be found on the first floor, the Hotel Pearson offered a variety of services to those who lodged within. The Hotel Pearson offered both short and long-distance telephone calls, telegrams, a tailor, laundry services, cigarettes for twenty cents, and various other services to those willing to pay. The Hotel Pearson also offered free parking and a free valet service, and the valets would dress in frock tailcoats and top hats. The Hotel Pearson also had a unique form of advertisement. During the 1920s, most buildings were built of wood in a time when smoking was popular, but the Hotel Pearson was built of concrete and brick. Compared to many buildings standing at the time, the Hotel Pearson was a symbol of modernity. Evelyn Pearson made sure to advertise the hotel as such. The Hotel Pearson was described as located in “the Land of a Million Smiles, in the Land of a Million Thrills.”

The partnership of Evelyn Pearson and Mr. Mortenson would face a challenge in the 1940s and early 1950s. Evelyn Pearson's and Mr. Mortenson's relationship would dissolve as Mr. Mortenson took legal action against Evelyn Pearson for allegedly refusing to allow him access to the hotel ledgers, pay him over $12,000 owed in backpay, refusing to acknowledge his portion of the controlled stock in the company, and refusing to acknowledge his control over his portion of the Hotel Pearson and the property that laid within. Mr. Mortenson would take his case all the way to the Arkansas Supreme Court where he would lose to later appeal again in 1951.

The Hotel Pearson had stood and thrived for almost twenty-five years when Mr. Mortenson appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court the second time, and the hotel would continue to thrive on awhile longer. After thirty-nine years of business in 1965, Evelyn Pearson would sell the Hotel Pearson to a group of investors. These investors would in turn completely renovate the building with new plumbing, a new heating and cooling system, and improved the electrical system in the building to turn the former Hotel Pearson into the office space today known as the 500 Building. Around a decade later in 1976, James R. Ford would purchase the building and Ford established two businesses within which were Ford Rental Property and Coldwell Banker James R. Ford and Associates. The Hotel Pearson had originally contained a lobby that was open up to the second floor, but the investors who purchased the building in 1965 had concrete added to the second floor where the lobby once reached to create additional office space. Another drastic change made to the 500 Building was the removal of all the walls on the fourth floor and the addition of one large glass wall to create one large work floor, and the Continental Telephone Company would occupy this floor for many years. The fourth floor today still has the glass wall, door, and doorbell used by the Continental Telephone Company, but walls have now been added back to the floor. The ownership of the 500 Building has changed two more times since purchased by James R. Ford. Tenant and real estate agent Randy Campbell bought the building in 2004 and sold the building back to James R. Ford in 2010 which makes Ford the current property owner today.

The 500 Building has changed ownership multiple times over the years, and the majority of tenants the building has housed have came and gone as well. The businesses that have set up shop in the 500 Building have varied greatly.  The 500 Building at some point or another housed insurance offices, real estate agents and companies, the previously mentioned Continental Telephone Company who rented out the entire fourth floor for years, various attorneys, counselors and therapists, a computer company, financial advisors, mortgage brokers, a rental property management company, accountants, a trucking logistic company by the name of Source Logistics, an engineering company, and an internet service provider company rented a room for the sole purpose of keeping a large computer inside. A martial arts studio was located at one time in the basement. The 500 Building has rented to one very notable person of interest and national fame. While still an attorney, former United States President Bill Clinton rented out an office and would come down to Russellville from Fayetteville once a week. Today, many businesses still locate their office spaces in the 500 Building. The 500 Building currently rents out space to the rental property management business Ford Rental Property, the real estate company Coldwell Banker James R. Ford and Associates which is now owned by current tenant Randy Campbell, the trucking company Source Logistics, various attorneys, an accounting firm occupies part of the third floor, a therapist on the third floor, and other businesses and businessmen.

Several prominent features of the original building can still be seen today. The horseshoe design of the 500 Building was based upon was a European style that allowed for greater airflow in a time when air conditioning did not exist. The original Hotel Pearson elevator is in good condition and still used by the current tenants. While the elevator does not meet legal requirements for size based upon modern standards, the elevator was grandfathered in and can legally be used. The outside of the 500 Building also features a remnant of the original Hotel Pearson. Along the alleyway next to the new fire station next door, the original Hotel Pearson fire escape is still operational and can be used if ever needed in the event of a fire. A trip down to the basement of the 500 Building reveals the original artesian well, which is no longer used, that has existed since the building’s construction in 1927. The dark and damp basement contains a goldmine of forgotten history. Little paperwork from the building’s first business the Hotel Pearson remains, but thousands of original hotel registration cards can be found scattered and disorganized in the basement. These small pieces of history contain the names of those who stayed at the hotel, their addresses, and what they paid for during their stay at the hotel. Countless names of former guests remain untouched and unseen in the dark corners of the 500 Building basement.

The 500 Building and former Hotel Pearson remains an important figure in local railroad and architectural history.

Campbell, Randy (Former Building Owner and Current Tenant). Interviewed by Matthew Campbell. Personal Interview. Russellville, AR, September 2019.

Curt Teich & Company. Hotel Pearson. Postcard. The 500 Building. Russellville, AR.

Ford, James R. “Hotel Pearson Registration Cards.” 1937. Russellville, AR.

Mid-West Map Company. Hotel Pearson. Postcard. The 500 Building. Russellville, AR.

Mortensen v. Ballard, 188 S.W.2d 749 (Ark. 1945).

Mortensen v. Ballard, 236 S.W.2d 1006 (Ark. 1951).

Pitts-Robinson, Denise. “Once a Hotel, Now a Local Landmark.” ABOUT...the River Valley Online, April 1, 2015. https://www.aboutrvmag.com/features/once-a-hotel-now-a-local-landmark/.