Title: Friends of Markham Hill ** Purpose ** Save Markham Hill from development and make it a 200-acre nature, wildlife, historic, archeology, and Native American preserve, in the middle of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Lisa Orton, co-founder of Friends of Markham Hill, explained, “The approximately 200 acres we are focusing on right now consist of the 144 acres that belonged to Evangeline Pratt Waterman Archer (now owned by developer SREG and their anonymous financial backers) and the adjacent 63 acres that belonged to Joy Pratt Markham (now owned by the City of Fayetteville). Our specific focus is to save the 144-acre property from development. The City of Fayetteville is planning on preserving the adjacent 63 acres which is what Joy Pratt Markham expressed in her will. Hopefully, the other natural areas and woods on Markham Hill can be added to the desired 200-acre nature and wildlife preserve over time.” ** Background ** Friends of Markham Hill is a grass roots group of people who are trying to save a 144-acre intact urban forest and natural area within Fayetteville from development and make it a nature, wildlife, historic, archeology, and Native American preserve. The Pratt family settled on the mountain in 1900 and their descendants owned the property until recently. Markham Hill has a rich history and is part of Fayetteville’s culture. Out-of-state Robert M Dant and his local developer Specialized Real Estate Group (Jeremy Hudson and Seth Mims) bought the property for development during the Pratt family descendant’s bankruptcy trial in 2016. Friends of Markham Hill is asking the Fayetteville City officials to step up and support the effort to save Markham Hill from development. They are also asking the owners/developer to please sell the entire property to a conservationist, conservation group, and/or the City of Fayetteville who will preserve it all. So far, the owners/developer have said ‘No’. ** Why would the City of Fayetteville and local conservation groups want to preserve Markham Hill? ** 1. Ecological Importance - Environmental/ecological benefits of large area of woods/meadows on a hill within a city - Convenient location for studies/learning by U of A students/professors and public schools - Last large acreage of woods between downtown and Highway 49 where wildlife can take refuge - Affects two watersheds: Beaver and White River 2. Art Venue - Pratt Place Inn could be repurposed as art studios for local artists and exhibition hall for Washington County artists, much needed in Fayetteville - Could work in collaboration with the University of Arkansas School of Art, along with the Joy Pratt Markham Endowment Fund and the Joy Pratt Markham Visiting Artist/Scholar Series - Plein air artists would have a beautiful, convenient, and quiet place away from civilization to paint - Event Barn and large meadow could be used for art gatherings, receptions, and celebrations 3. Trail Connectivity - Needed for Fayetteville’s East-West trail connectivity, not only for mixed-use needs of Fayetteville residents but also for leisure biking by participants/spectators of upcoming international and world competitions taking place at Centennial Park on Millsap Mountain - Continued use of secluded running trails by the champion University of Arkansas cross country and track teams, and other runners and hikers - Event Barn and large meadow could be used for gatherings of runners, hikers, bikers, birders, students 4. Historical significance - Pratt family ownership since 1900 until recently - Evangeline Pratt Archer’s cottage on NRHP - Joy Pratt Markham’s 1921-1941 boys and girls camp on ARHP - Two registered Native American sites and probably more - Arkansas Archeological Survey and other researchers are interested in the early 20th century ruins and sites - Part of Fayetteville culture and history 5. Respect for the land's original inhabitants - Native Americans could use the property for their events and for spiritual sanctuary ** Some of our efforts so far ** - Writing letters to the City and speaking at City meetings, such as the City Council, Planning Commission, Urban Forestry Advisory Board, and Environmental Action Committee - Spreading the word about Markham Hill and the developer’s activities through Facebook, emails, Nextdoor app, change.org petition, letters to the editor, interviews with news media, yard signs, banners, flyers, word of mouth - Since June 2019, posting on social media the Weekly Markham Hill Moment of History - Since November 2019, broadcasting recorded readings of the Weekly Markham Hill Moment of History on KPSQ 97.3 FM Community Radio every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 am - Researching and discussing strategy at occasional small group meetings of Friends of Markham Hill - Searching for and talking to possible conservationists who might purchase the 144-acre Markham Hill property for preservation - Encouraging people to keep asking the City officials to support us and the owners/developer to sell at a reasonable price to a conservationist who will preserve it all (if they sell at the appraised value, they will still make a profit) ** Content for the Weekly Markham Hill Moment of History ** - Stories about the lives of Cassius & Maggie Pratt, the Pratt boys, Joy Markham, Evangeline Archer, Gay Pratt Markham, Julian Archer – the Pratt family and descendants - Interviews with folks who lived on the mountain in the old camp cabins from 1950s through early 2000s (Examples: Edward Downie , Mary Hughes , Sam Edwards, Micheal Parks , Suki Lin Highers , Pritam Chowdhury ) - Interviews with people who knew the Pratt sisters Evangeline Archer and/or Joy Markham (Examples: Ken Smith, Frank Sharp, Dr. Jim Hunt, Martha Sutherland, Alysen W Land ) - Stories written or spoken by those touched by Markham Hill in some way (Examples: University of Arkansas runners, Hugh Kincaid, Patsy Galbraith , Coach John McDonnell) - Stories from musicians and artists inspired by Markham Hill (Examples: Michael Bewley , Carol Widder , Jumpsuit Jamey , Marquette Bruce , Karolyn Farrell , Ann Powers, Madison Moon , Judy Maurer ) - Old newspaper articles (Examples: Maggie’s Road, Cash Pratt, Joy Markham’s eulogy on artist George Bellows, Hilltop Camps, Evangeline Archer’s many letters to the editor about conservation, tragic death of Joy Markham’s only child, “largest dogwood in the world”, Mrs. Markham’s daffodils, Gay Day Camp, Joy Markham’s Rolls Royce, Joy Markham’s philanthropy, the Younkins, Roberta Fulbright, Charles Finger, Rosa Marinoni, the Stillwells) - Letter from the late archeologist Dr. Jamie Brandon about Native American sites on Markham Hill - Information from wildlife experts (Examples: Doug James, Joe Neal ) - Bird and wildlife photography by Paul Waddell - What happened to Joy Markham’s will and other legal issues from the 1970s through the 2000s - How the Pratt/Archer family lost Markham Hill to a developer - How the 'Save Markham Hill' effort began ** Will you join our effort to save Markham Hill? ** Facebook group: Friends of Markham Hill Website: FriendsOfMarkhamHill.org Email: friendsOfMarkhamHill@gmail.com Podcast: Friends of Markham Hill Podcast #SaveMarkhamHill #KeepFayettevilleForested #PreserveFayetteville #PreserveFayettevilleHistory #MarkhamHillHistory #MarkhamHillWildlife #MarkhamHillNativeAmericans #MarkhamHillInspiredArt #WhatMarkhamHillISWhatMarkhamHillISNOT