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Submitted: 8/14/08 • Approved: 8/14/08 • Last Updated: 8/6/12 • R43663-G0-S3
Story Date: Friday, November 4, 2005
Paragould adds lights to historic mausoleum
By Amanda Harris
PARAGOULD -- A once dark and gloomy place will stand as the monument
that it is thanks to the Paragould City Beautiful Commission and a
handful of others.
Members of the commission were instrumental in placing lights around
the Linwood MAUSOLEUM.
Once invisible from U.S. 412 and U.S. 49 at night, the landmark shines
like a bright star thanks in part to the city's utility.
The CBC tackled the project and enlisted the help of Paragould Light,
Water and Cable.
At a ceremony held Thursday evening, CBC Chairwoman Donna Knight
thanked PLWC's Electric Construction Superintendent Bill McCartney and
Chief Executive Officer Bill Fisher for the role they played in
running the necessary infrastructure to power the lights that now
illuminate the landmark.
The lights will be on every evening from dusk until dawn, not just for
special occasions, Knight said.
Motorists passing through the busy intersection will notice the
MAUSOLEUM that stood in the darkness before, she remarked.
"I think it will be a piece of art for a lot of people. It's a
beautiful old building and we're proud of it," the chairwoman said.
The exterior lights are the first step in the CBC's efforts to improve
the cemetery.
CBC Commissioner Kaut White has donated two crypts to the commission.
The commission plans to auction them off to raise money to complete
another project which would landscape the exterior and add lights to
the interior, Knight noted.
Crypts in the Linwood MAUSOLEUM have been sold out for many years,
noted commissioner Jackie Branch, who also serves as an alderman.
Mayor Mike Gaskill applauded CBC commissioners' efforts as he shrugged
off his role in the lighting project.
"When they came stampeding toward the MAUSOLEUM I stepped out of the
way so they could get to it," the mayor said.
"People like the City Beautiful Commission make the difference in
Paragould," he added.
Beautification Commission members include Branch, White, Knight,
secretary Bobbye Brengard, treasurer Susan Youngblood, Beverly
McClure, Jill Whitworth, Nicole Wright, Martha Chiles and Farrell
Gibson.
Several years ago the MAUSOLEUM was cared for by a group of three
trustees.
Verlyn Heath, Richard Mitchell and William Trice were the last three
to serve as trustees before the MAUSOLEUM and its trust fund were
turned over the city, a move made to ensure continued maintenance of
the MAUSOLEUM.
Built in the early 1900s, the MAUSOLEUM was constructed of Bedford
stone and white marble complete with brass and copper features. It
holds 160 crypts.
Branch quoted an article that appeared in The Jonesboro Sun in 1991
which described the MAUSOLEUM as "a reflection of earlier times when
the rich and powerful were interred above ground in dark catacombs
sealed with marble slabs."
The most notable figure laid to rest in the Linwood MAUSOLEUM is an
infamous gangster and bank robber named Frank Nash.
Nash was killed on June 17, 1933 in the "Union Station Massacre" which
occurred in Kansas City, Mo. Nash and three police officers were
killed in a failed attempt by gangsters such as Pretty Boy Floyd to
free Nash, who was being transported to the federal prison in
Leavenworth, Kan.
His final resting place is along the north wall of the MAUSOLEUM.
"It really is a landmark in our community," the mayor said.
Contributed on 8/14/08 by tiredtech3
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Record #: 43663