Above: Brandon Windland, bridge repairer; Independence County Judge Robert Griffin; Jeremy Friend, bridge repairer; Bob Wilkerson, lead bridge repairer; Jeremy Matheny, crew leader; Lance Smith, Bridge Repairer and Foster.
On a rainy morning Wednesday, a small group gathered to celebrate the reinstallation of the historical marker in Pfeiffer.
The sign, which commemorates the mining of limestone in the area during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, was removed when Highway 167 was widened. Having no clear instructions regarding the sign, the contractor left it behind.
Fortunately, a long-time Pfeiffer resident eventually collected and stored it in hopes one day someone would look for it.
That someone was Connie Treadway.
Treadway contacted Old Independence Regional Museum last spring in an effort to find the sign. Museum staff knew the sign was missing, but posing the question of its whereabouts on social media netted no results.
Treadway was determined to find it and contacted the local division of the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Bruce Street, District 5 engineer, coordinated the effort to locate the missing sign.
Resident Engineer Brandon Love set out on a quest to find the historical marker. He first contacted the contractor but to no avail. Love then began searching the area, ultimately finding Pfeiffer resident Carolyn Johnson.
Johnson saw the sign after its removal and arranged to have the sign brought to her home. There she retained the sign for safekeeping.
The once missing marker now located, Street arranged for the sign to be delivered to the DOT workshop where Todd Foster meticulously repaired and restored it.
“I have lived in this area all my life except for one year,” said Treadway. “I’m so glad this marker has been found.”
Today the sign stands near its original location on N. St. Louis Street in Pfeiffer.
Thanks to Connie and Bobby Treadway and Carolyn Johnson, and to Bruce Street, Brandon Love, Todd Foster, and the DOT crew, this piece of Pfeiffer history is once again available to Independence County residents and tourists.
Above: Connie and Bobby Treadway
Photo 4: Refurbished Pfeiffer historical marker
Photo credits: Terri Crawford, Old Independence Regional Museum
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