Quapaw Quarter Association Acquires Historic

William E. Woodruff House, 

Plans to Preserve It.

 

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Dec. 22, 2014) - With the help of the City of Little Rock and a Certified Local Government Grant through the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Quapaw Quarter Association (QQA) has closed on the historic 1853 William E. Woodruff House, arguably the most significant building in Little Rock still in need of restoration. 

 

"To best protect this significant building and the substantial public investment made toward its preservation, the QQA will donate a fa�ade easement to the City of Little Rock and an interior easement to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program," said QQA President Laura Sergeant.  "These easements will protect the building's important features and encourage appropriate rehabilitation in perpetuity.  They will also ensure the building remains eligible for historic tax credit use and grant funding for future owners." 

 

With assistance from the City of Little Rock and the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the QQA will immediately mitigate termite damage and make repairs to keep the building secure.  With grant funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the QQA will commission a feasibility study to determine the best use for the property. 

 

For more information about the house and efforts to save it, visit quapaw.com. 

Click here for a short video about the house. 

 

About The Woodruff House

The Woodruff House, built in 1853 by William E. Woodruff, founder of the Arkansas Gazette, stands as an important piece of Little Rock and Arkansas history.  Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, the property is significant not only for its association with William E. Woodruff, but also for its rarity as a brick antebellum house and for the historic archeological information that the site might reveal.  William Woodruff, in addition to founding the first newspaper published west of the Mississippi River, was extremely active and influential in local and state politics in Arkansas.  Woodruff became one of the state's most important and colorful historical figures through his business interests, political connections, and efforts to promote the state.  His commitment to Arkansas and the South also led him to volunteer in his late 60s for service with the Confederate army in the Civil War, in which he rose to the rank of colonel.  The Woodruff House was an urban farmstead surrounded by several ancillary structures which were associated with its agricultural activities.  The location served as Woodruff's final home until his death in 1885. 

 

Today, the Woodruff House is vacant and in need of restoration.  It is located in an underutilized part of downtown, adjacent to several vacant lots and could serve as an anchor for revitalization efforts in the area.  It has been listed on the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas's Most Endangered Places list since 2007. 

 

 

     

About the 

Quapaw Quarter Association

The Quapaw Quarter Association's mission is to promote the preservation of Little Rock's architectural heritage through advocacy, marketing and education.

 

Incorporated in 1968, the QQA grew out of an effort to identify and protect significant historic structures in Little Rock during the urban renewal projects of the early 1960s. Throughout its existence, the QQA has been a driving force behind historic preservation in Greater Little Rock.