Betts Building Dedicated in Downtown Hope

The Betts Building on Main Street in downtown Hope was dedicated on Saturday (9-7). The building has a lot of history. Tena Pilkinton-Carter was the first to speak and talked about the history of the building. She has kept the building going that her great-grandfather built. James H. Betts started out as a cotton-broker and became an engineer, contractor, banker and mayor. He died at the age of 52. There will be a plaque in his honor in the future. There were a thousand people at his funeral and was loved by all people.

Cathy Loe, Pat Harris and Randy Wright of the title company purchased the property. With the move of the courthouse they decided they wanted to move as well to be across the street from the courthouse.

Loe said it all started with Tena and were grateful to her for the reasonable price that she offered as it helped them in terms of being able to rehabilitate the building. Loe said they kept it local in terms of the businesses hired to fix the building listing the local companies they had hired to do the work. The title business has been good for them and they wanted to give back to the community.

Everything Mr. Betts did for the city originated from this building. Ms. Carter has been working for 6 or 7 years to save the property and find new owners.

Those pictured include Twila Carter, Lisa Arnold, Kathryn Beasley and Mary Sherman. Ms. Carter was honored by the family with the presentation of a plaque in honor of her preservation of the family properties.