At the top is the National Building, 2nd Avenue and Pine Street, circa 1976. Next is the Jefferson County courthouse after it burned in April 1976. It was restored with additional wings added. Governor Bill Clinton was on hand to give a talk at the re-opening ceremony in May 1980. This was his first 2-year term as governor, and he was defeated in November by a Republican, Frank White. The year 1980 was a tough one for Arkansas, for the U. S., and for the Democratic Party. There was the failed and fatal attempt in May to rescue American Embassy hostages in Iran (George Holmes, a Marine corporal from Pine Bluff was among those killed), and the leaked-fuel-vapor explosion of a Titan nuclear missile silo near Damascus (Arkansas) that killed one worker and injured others while propelling the 9 megaton nuclear warhead several hundred yards away so that it was temporarily lost. At least it didn't explode, but the Air Force wouldn't even say whether the missile in the silo was armed (at some time since then they acknowledged there was a nuclear warhead on the missile). And Reagan was elected president.
Getting back to Pine Bluff: after a fire in May 1996, the almost 90-year-old National Building was demolished, along with buildings shown next to it in the photo, because the owner(s) decided it wasn't economically feasible to repair it. Probably he was (or they were) right, since so many businesses had begun migrating out of downtown in the early 80s. The Donald W. Reynolds Community Center now occupies the block where the National Building was. At least there's not a vacant lot there. Downtown Pine Bluff is now getting a facelift of sorts via a new "streetscape" project which seems to me like a good thing to do.
