Silas Owens

Silas Owens Sr. (1907-1960) was an African American stone mason from Solomon Grove in Faulkner County who built native sandstone and limestone buildings across central Arkansas. He used native stone from a quarry on Batesville Mountain or rock gathered from the immediate vicinity of the buildings he assembled. Owens was known for arranging the rocks in his buildings in geometric or herringbone patterns. He completed several rural homes, as well as homes in Camden, Conway, Hot Springs, Twin Groves, and North Little Rock. Owens was also a local farmer in Faulkner County.

In 1936 Owens accepted a contract from the Works Progress Agency to build the Reptile House and the Elephant House at the Little Rock Zoo. Two years later he built the Charlie Hall House in Twin Groves. He used a herringbone pattern in constructing Solomon Grove's Smith-Hughes Building, used for the education of African-American schoolchildren. In 1942 he built the Quattlebaum-Pelletier House in Twin Groves. In 1943 he completed the Earl and Oza Crownover Brown House in Damascus. In 1949 he built the Earl and Mildred Ward House in Conway.

Owens' son Silas Owens Jr. also became a notable local mason.

References

Holly Hope, "Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 67.1 (Spring 2008): 75-81.