Edwin Huey Bullington

Posted on by Carol Ann McCormick

(27 July 1937 – 13 September 2018)1

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) curates about a dozen specimens collected by Edwin Huey Bullington.  He usually signed herbarium labels as “E. H. Bullington”.  All were collected in Washington County, Arkansas in 1960.  It is curious that none of the specimens curated by NCU list “Devil’s Den State Park” as a collecting locality despite the vegetation of that Park being the focus of his graduate work.2,4 

Other herbaria curating specimens collected by Mr. Bullington include North Carolina State University (NCSC), the University of Arkansas (UARK), and the University of Kansas (KANU).2

The vegetation of Devil’s Den State Park was the subject of Mr. Bullington’s 1962 Masters thesis at the University of Arkansas.  “Devil’s Den State Park in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas is one of the best-preserved Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) park developments in the United States and contains the largest sandstone crevice cave area in the country… [It] was designated a Natural Area by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.  The Arkansas Archeological Survey in 1970 recorded eleven archeological sites at the park.  Six sites are prehistoric and indicate the presence of Native Americans as far back as 8,000 years… As with ohter early state parks in Arkansas, the land for Devil’s Den State Park was acquired by the federal government after it was forfeited by families who could no longer keep up with the taxes on their property during the Great Depression.  Devil’s Den State Park was created on October 13, 1933, which coincided with the creation of the CCC by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The first CCC company occupied Devil’s Den State Park on October 20, 1933.  The main goal of this unit, made up of men from North Dakota, was to construct a good gravel road from West Fork (Washington County) to Devil’s Den… The CCC also built the first hiking trails in the park, as well as a stone dam on Lee Creek, cabins made of native stone and logs, campgrounds, offices, and restaurant.  Construction of trails, roads, and other minor buildings continued until the CCC disbanded in 1942… The most unique portion of the park is the sandstone crevice area, which contains approximately 60 crevice caves.  The longest is Devil’s Den Cave, extending 550 feet into the hillside. Geologists believe that, between 10,000 and 70,000 years ago, about thirty acres of hillside collapsed and slid into the valley, causing massive blocks of sandstone to fracture and form numerous crevices and caves. In 1982, the Devil’s Den Crevice Cave Area was placed on the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission’s Registry of Natural Areas. The crevice caves provide a habitat for numerous bat species, including the Ozark big-eared bat, an endangered species. The bats hibernate in Big Ear Cave, one of only four known caves in Arkansas considered essential to the survival of the species.”3

Edwin Huey Bullington, undated1

“Edwin “Ed” Huey Bullington, age 81, of Pompano Beach, Florida, passed away September 13th. He was born July 27, 1937 in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, the son of Huey & Zelma (Hilton) Bullington. Ed grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas where he received a Bachelors in Ichthyology (study of fish). He worked for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and helped introduce Bass in Beaver Lake. He spent 2 summers working for the Forest Service and 2 summers for the National Park Service to earn money for his education. He went on to receive a masters in Forest Ecology from the University of Arkansas. After college he joined the Navy where he was a photographic officer on the USS Observation Island. Ed met and married his wife, Judy Thies while stationed in Fort Lauderdale, FL in 1965. Upon retiring from the Navy, he worked for his father in their auto parts business in Northwest Arkansas. It was his love of photography that flourished upon his retirement with Judy in Florida.  He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Judy Thies Bullington of Pompano Beach, sister Kay (Bobby) Ferrell, two daughters Catherine Bullington of Fort Lauderdale, Patty Bullington of Denver, Colorado, son Win Bullington of Fort Lauderdale and his dog Spanki.  Funeral will be held at Saint Gabriel Catholic Church of Pompano Beach, Florida on Saturday, September 22nd [2018]. In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made in his memory to Catholic Hospice.”1

 

 

 

PUBLICATIONS:
Bullington, Edwin Huey. 1962.  The vegetation of Devils Den State Park, Washington County, Arkansas.  M.S. thesis, University of Arkansas.

 

SOURCES:

  1.  Edwin Huey Bullington, obituary.  2018.  Dignity Memorial https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/pompano-beach-fl/edwin-bullington-7990156  accessed on 12 October 2023.
  2. SERNEC Data Portal. 2023. http//:sernecportal.org/index.php.  Accessed on 12 October.
  3. Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.  2023. Devil’s Den State Park. Encyclopedia of Arkansas.  accessed on 21 September 2023.
  4. Bullington, Edwin Huey. 1962.  The vegetation of Devils Den State Park, Washington County, Arkansas.  M.S. thesis, University of Arkansas.