*GATE KEEPER

Something wonderful happened in 1915, impacting the Arkansas countryside and culture. Five Italian families settled the area now known as Little Italy. The mountainous terrain was ideal for their vineyards and livestock. One home was built in the true pioneer spirit, into which, all five families moved until other homes could be built. Four bonded wineries and some 300 plus acres of grapevines flourished here. Prohibition, unfortunately, came along and squelched most of the wine business.

Before the first church was built in 1922, a priest would travel from Little Rock, by train, to Ledwidge. From there, he would insist upon walking the rest of the way to Little Italy, as the steep, winding road was said to test his faith (a little too much to ride by horse and wagon).

The wineries and acres of grapes have long since disappeared, save for a sprinkling of vines reserved for personal use, but the influence of that culture is still felt here. In moments of great joy or sorrow, one can still hear the Italian language spoken by some of the remaining descendants. The church still thrives, with Little Rock and the surrounding areas benefiting from the great spaghetti dinners put on by parishioners as fund raisers for the church.


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Little Italy is a unique community in Perry County simply because it was settled by a group of people of one nationality. The community was once called Alta Villa, which means High Village or High Place. The land in this area was part of a grant made to the Little Rock and Ft. Smith Railroad by the state of Arkansas. The railroad in turn sold parcels of land to the New England Trust Company in 1872. Through foreclosure, this land went back to the railroad. In later years it was sold to the Fourche River Lumber Company, then to the Arkansas Farms Company. The Arkansas Farms Company advertised the land for sale in Illinois and other mid-western states. The advertisement drew the attention of a group of Italians living in Chicago and Michigan. They noticed the climate and growing conditions were described much like those in their native land.

Upon closer investigation, they decided to move to Arkansas. In the autumn of 1915, the first five families arrived....their names were Granato, Busato, Perrini, Belotti and Segalla. Seventeen children accompanied the group. One year later two other families joined them. They were the Cia and the Chiaro families. As time went on, other Italian families moved into the community.

These first settlers of Little Italy arrived by train at Ledwidge, which consisted of a station, a general store and several houses. They were kindly greeted at the station and were offered food and assistance in getting up the mountain to their future home sites. It had been a rough, exhausting trip for the women and children, many of whom spoke little English. The area at that time was a wilderness with nightly renditions from wolves and other wild animals. With winter coming on and no proper shelter in sight, it may have been a time of grave misgivings for some. But they faced the future as bravely as they could..

Upon arriving at the top of the mountain, they found that a shell of a building had been provided for them. One of their members, Mr. Belotti, had arranged for the shelter for his group and it came in the shape of one large building, in which they were all housed. As spring came on each family began to make plans for a permanent home. The first house to go up was for the Perrini family, which still stands. After much hard work, each family was settled in their own home and they were ready to go about the job of making a living. They combined their labors and built a community cheese house. It was here, at designated times, the families brought their milk to be made into cheese.

Tilling the mountain soil was not an easy task. But the Italians were determined to succeed in their new land. After months of back-breaking work their vineyards were established, as were fine orchards and vegetable patches. Several varieties of grape cuttings were brought from Italy....green, white, red and purple grapes. The famous Concord was grown extensively. Finally, there were more than one hundred acres of grapes growing on the hillside of Alta Villa.

Shortly after the vineyards were established, John Segalla built a winery. A second winery was operated by Sperando Ghidotti, a third by Gelindo Solda and a fourth by Bertolo Balzan. These winerys were in operation during the thirties but by 1942 none were in existence. Disease became a constant threat to the vineyards, making it less and less profitable to grow grapes.

The families of Little Italy were of the Catholic faith and they missed having a church of their own. The first Church services were held in the Ledwidge School and a visiting Priest rode the train up from Little Rock to say Mass. Instead of building a church outright, they decided to buy one at another location and have it moved to their community. It was in Ola, nearly 50 miles west of them, that they found such a building. The small frame church was torn into sections and moved by flatcar on the railroad to Ledwidge by the river. It was unloaded at this point into large flat-bedded wagons, pulled by mules and hauled to the top of the mountain. There it was re-assembled and stood, a symbol of their faith, for many years. It was replaced in 1969 by a new church which was financed by community spaghetti dinners for the public. People came from miles around to enjoy the famous Italian Spaghetti and sausage.

The Italians brought their homeland with them in the form of music and games. They danced and sang, accompanied by the mandolin and tambourine. They played Bocce (a form of lawn bowling and pronounced Bochi), briscola (a card game), and mora (a very fast and tricky game of finger counting).

A community school building called the Ledwidge School was provided by the CRIP Railroad. It was a one room building lit by oil lamps at night and heated by a wood burning stove on cold days. Here most of the children learned their three "r's". One of their favorite teachers was Mrs. May Van Dalsem Garretson. Her care and understanding of the children was ever apparent. She worked to give these children more than the bare essentials in learning. Other teachers on the mountain were Carl Adams and Jesse Jones. They organized basketball games, drama events, encouraged music in the school, and did many things beyond the duty of a teacher to draw these new Americans into the mainstream of their new homeland.

As the community grew, a need for a cemetery arose. John Segalla donated a piece of ground for the purpose. It is located at the highest point on the mountain and is called St. Francis cemetery..

Electricity came to the "Hill" in 1939, bringing many advantages to Little Italy people. From 1915 on, more Italian families settled in the surrounding area. They answered to names like Carraro, Balzan, Vaccari, and Zulpo.

Today the image of Little Italy has changed. The vineyards are gone and so is the old cheese house. Many retired people live in the community and the children go to consolidated schools. The community has acquired many "American" customs, but it has retained many ethnic qualities and takes pride in its heritage.

http://www.terresplace.com/st.francis/littleitaly.html

Contributed on 7/27/11 by hawkinsdonna
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Record #: 568179

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