Sandra Taylor Smith

She was a force to be reckoned with when it came to architectural history. She was brilliant in front of the room or authoring design guidelines and National Register nominations. She was modest (to a fault) when it came to her lifetime of accomplishments. And she was a fighter. Evident when she unexpectedly lost her only child and in her lengthy battle with cancer.

Sandra Taylor Smith passed away on March 12, 2026 at home with the love of her life for 49 years, Daniel Andrew Smith, by her side. Born in 1951, she was the only child of Hubert and Vergie Claxton Taylor, now deceased. She’s preceded in death by her beautiful daughter, Shelley Taylor Smith.

Sandra graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science, in 1973. Her remarkable career of well over 50 years began first working for Arkansas Historic Preservation and then as a private consultant.

She presented National Trust of Historic Places nominations for sixty-two nominated sites in Arkansas. This includes Charles L. Thompson buildings statewide, Civilian Conservation Corps structures, courthouses, commercial districts, cemeteries, and residential neighborhoods across the state. The list includes the Mosaic Templars of America Building in Little Rock, the Park Hill Fire Station & Water Company Complex in North Little Rock, the Lands End Plantation in Scott, the McRae Elementary School in Baring Cross, the George D.D. Huie Grocery Store Building in Dark Hollow, Arkansas Post Offices with WPA Murals, the Stifft Station Historic District in Little Rock, and two expansions of the Argenta Historic District in North Little Rock.

She wrote the design guidelines for Argenta Historic District, the state’s first working-class historic district and first non-contiguous district in the state with both a residential and separate commercial sector. She also authored design guidelines for historic districts in Fort Smith, Helena, Van Buren, Rogers, Hot Springs, Texarkana, Russellville, and El Dorado. She completed numerous architectural resource surveys throughout the state including Eureka Springs, Osceola, Harrison, Buffalo National River, Morrilton, Hillcrest in Little Rock, and Park Hill in North Little Rock….just to name a few.

She received the Quapaw Quarter Jimmy Strawn Preservation Leadership Award and was the youngest recipient of the Parker Westbrook Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. She served on the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Alliance, been a tour guide for the Quapaw Quarter Association Tour of Homes, Co-Chaired the QQA Christmas Potpourri Tour, a founding Board Member of the Argenta Community Development Corp. was an Ex-Officio Board Member of the Argenta Leadership Council, President of the Pulaski County Historical Society Board of Directors, and was a Board of Directors member of the Friends of the Old Mill.

Sandra’s legacy in historic preservation is extensive but she also leaves a personal legacy of strength and love. She was a loving mother of Shelley who left this world unexpectedly two years ago. She handled it with grace and dignity while battling cancer herself. She leaves behind many friends from communities throughout Arkansas. She was quietly funny. She loved music, whether it was playing piano (a talent few knew) or attending rock and roll concerts. And she loved animals, gardening, and the “magic” of Eureka Springs.

Those closest to her knew of her commitment to her home town of North Little Rock. Her efforts, starting in 1992, were the beginning of the incredible journey of Argenta becoming the thriving community it is today.

Thank you, Mrs. Smith. You’ll always be remembered with admiration, gratitude, and most of all love. Rock on, girl, rock on.

The Celebration of Life for Sandra Taylor Smith will be held at The Sanctuary (formally First Presperterian Church in Argenta) 201 W. 4th St. at 2 pm on Sunday March 29. A private graveside service for family will be on Saturday, March 28 at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Memorial Park Cemetery .