Lawrence Smith, 79, recalls that when he first started traveling through Eureka Springs about 50 years ago on trips to collect antiques and collectables to sell at his auction house business then located in Fort Smith, he thought US 62 was all there was to Eureka. When he “found” downtown Eureka Springs, he knew what he wanted to do.
He developed the triangular-shaped Flatiron Building sandwiched between Spring and Center Sts. It is rare on a busy weekend that you don’t see a tourist photographing the Flatiron. In fact, it is now one of the most photographed buildings in Arkansas.
“After I fell in love with the downtown, I had some money and decided I was going to buy some property around Eureka Springs,” said Smith. “I probably bought out about twenty parcels of property. In 1983, I paid $125,000 for the itty-bitty piece of property where I built the Flatiron Building. I took a lot of pains to make it look old. The architect for the project was Conrad Brown and Don Underwood did the stonework.”
While hard to imagine now, Smith ran into a good bit of opposition to his plans for the Flatiron Building.
“I had the hardest time building it,” Smith said. “Everybody with the city fought me on it. It cost me a million to build.”
Although this is now the most photographed building downtown, it was quite controversial when it was built, said Glenna Booth, Historic District preservation officer. This was the third Flatiron Building on the site, and the previous two burned down.
One thing that Smith did that makes a world of difference in aesthetics in the heart of downtown was bury the electrical lines. “They were like spider webs all around the Flatiron site,” Smith said. “I paid $10,000 to have them hidden underground.”
One of the best features of the building is one you have to crane your neck to see it, or go to the balcony at the Basin Park Hotel Balcony Restaurant across the street. There is some beautiful stained-glass artwork including healing hands that depict the history of Eureka Springs.
Smith’s son, Larry, who is now deceased, was a skilled electrician who helped wire the building that was later used to house Arkansas Diamonds, a jewelry store Smith once owned and operated.
“He was quite the business entrepreneur over several decades, beginning in the early seventies,” his son in law, Tim Poynter, said. “He constructed the Stonegate Inn, the Eastgate Plaza Center and the Rockhouse Antique Mall, a large structure which now houses the ECHO Clinic. Some of his first endeavors in the beautiful downtown area were as the owner and operator of the High Hat Bar and the Wagon Wheel Tavern in the late seventies and early eighties.”
Smith once owned about 800 acres near US 62 in the east part of town. Part of that property was sold to the developers of Redbud Valley.
“I bought a lot of land around Eureka,” Smith said. “I paid for the ten-inch water line to come out to Eastgate Center. I built it to have space for my antique car museum and Western museum in it. I found no one wants to pay anything to see a car anymore. People won’t pay to go to museum.”
The Eastgate Center now serves as a medical and service industry hub for that part of town.
During the ‘70s, he built two large lakes near Cinnamon Valley on US 62. He also developed property on Houseman Access and was the responsible for paving Houseman.
Smith also purchased a large unfinished structure on Passion Play Rd. next to Wanderlust RV Park. The once proposed Anita Bryant Music Theater later became Smith’s antique mall/shop. Then it was turned into a bowling alley, and now houses a church.
Due to health concerns, Smith and his daughter are planning a big auction. It will include his large collection of antiques, collectibles and valuables from the past 50 years and the property where his current flea market and residence are located between Berryville and Eureka Springs
“Everybody wants me to sell my stuff, but I’m not a salesman,” Smith said. “This damn thing I have now, Parkinson’s, makes me shake, and takes my voice away. I’m not really wanting to sell, but I’m being forced to by my doctor and my daughter. She doesn’t want to have to deal with all that stuff after I’m gone. She and her husband are building a place for me at their home near Berryville because the doctor doesn’t want me to live alone anymore.
“The buildings out here are all full. I had two antique malls in Eureka Springs and when I closed the antique mall on Passion Play, I didn’t sell one little item. I put it all out here in trailers. We are going to have some big auction sales.”
“He likes collectables and antiques,” says daughter Laura Poynter. “All he has done all his life is buy, sell and trade.”
Fellow trader Richard Klein has been friends with Smith for about 25 years.
“We have a lot in common,” Klein said. “He has done a lot of deals in the past. Traders like us like to buy and sell. I look for the good deals and try to give good deals. I’ve done a lot of wholesale to other dealers because I get it so cheap that I can turn over to another dealer and make some money. Lawrence has pretty well done that, too.”
One of Klein’s best deals was buying a whole building of contents from Smith for $1,500.
“We both love a bargain,” Klein said. “I’ve just enjoyed his company through the years. We are two peas in a pod. He did a lot more land deals and buildings, I was more into the architecturals, like doors and windows.”
Smith had three children, a son, Mark Smith and twins Larry Smith and Laura (Smith) Poynter. Larry and Mark grew up and graduated high school in Eureka Springs. Laura was raised by her mother in Baton Rouge, La., where she graduated high school and attended LSU. Both of Smith’s sons have since passed on.