John Parks Almand Is Born (1885)

On 8 May 1885 John Parks Almand was born. From 1912 he practised in Arkansas for half a century. In 1929, with his partner Elmer A. Stuck, he designed the Medical Arts Building in Hot Springs — at sixteen storeys the tallest building in Arkansas from 1930 to 1958 and the state’s first true skyscraper. Almand’s range ran from Art Deco towers to public schools; several of his works, among them Little Rock Central High School, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.