William Woodruff House

Historic house in Arkansas, United States

United States historic place


William Woodruff House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


34°44′24″N 92°15′32″W / 34.74000°N 92.25889°W / 34.74000; -92.25889
Area	less than one acre
Architect	John Robins
Architectural style	Greek Revival
NRHP reference No.	89000173^[1]
Added to NRHP	March 21, 1989

The William Woodruff House is a historic house at 1017 East 8th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a 2+1⁄2-story brick structure, with a gabled roof. A single-story porch extends across the central portion of the front, supported by Doric columns, and there is a large gable dormer projecting from the roof, housing a pair of round-arch windows and a small half-round window in the gable. The core of the house was built in 1853 for William E. Woodruff, publisher of the first newspaper west of the Mississippi River.^[2]

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.^[1] It is one of four remaining antebellum homes in Little Rock.^[3]

History

Woodruff was an early advocate, newspaper publisher, and politician in Arkansaw Territory and Little Rock. During the height of his career, he moved from his apartment above the newspaper office to a 25 acres (10 ha) urban farmstead of orchards, livestock, and gardens. The home was built of on-site cypress and bricks, likely using slave labor and was overseen by local builder John Robins. Originally facing Ninth Street, the two-and-a-half story home contained ten rooms, with outbuildings for laundry and slave quarters.

During the American Civil War, Union troops intercepted a letter in which Woodruff was voicing support for the Confederacy. He was expelled from Little Rock; the Union took over the home, but allowed Woodruff's wife and daughters to stay for a few months before expelling them as well. It was used as a Union headquarters and military hospital until the end of the war, when the Woodruff family returned.

Woodruff passed away in 1885, and it remained in the family until 1891. It later became a boarding house for women, and was later modified into 14 apartment units. A fire in 2005, made the home uninhabitable. It was vacant and subject to vandalism until the Quapaw Quarter Association bought it in 2016.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ "NRHP nomination for William Woodruff House". Arkansas Preservation. Retrieved 2016-03-26.
^ ^a ^b Zakrzewski, Katie (March 2022). "Historic Woodruff House, Living History in Little Rock". Arkansas Money & Politics. Little Rock: AY Media Group. pp. 134–137. ISSN 2162-7754. Retrieved May 14, 2022.