The Quapaw Quarter Association has purchased the former home of the late William E. Woodruff, founder of the Arkansas Gazette, the organization announced Monday.
The house at 1017 and 1023 E. Eighth St. in Little Rock has been altered significantly over the years. It was built by Woodruff in 1853 in a Greek Revival style on a 25-acre tract that included slave quarters, a stable and laundry facilities.
The Quapaw Quarter Association plans to preserve the house and hopes to find a new owner for it. The association obtained a grant from the city and the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program worth $99,500 to help purchase the home. It paid $107,000 for the property, which was privately owned by an Arkadelphia resident.
The group has secured a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for a feasibility study that will give it a better idea on how to proceed with restoring the property, said Executive Director Rhea Roberts.
"Without preservation and restoration, this home will continue to decay and remain unlivable. With limited documentation of the home's original construction, a restoration could reveal so much more about the home's history and its remarkable past," Roberts said.
Woodruff founded the Arkansas Gazette in 1819, and it was the first newspaper published west of the Mississippi River. He's credited with establishing Arkansas' first library in Little Rock in 1843, and he also served a two-year term as state treasurer beginning in 1836.
In exchange for the grant money to purchase the home, the Quapaw Quarter Association agreed to give the city a 50-year historical facade easement that assures the exterior of the house remains preserved as much as possible. It also agreed to give the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program an interior easement to the home.
"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," said the association's president, Laura Sergeant.
The first work to be done to the property is to correct termite damage and make repairs to keep the structure secure.
The Woodruff House started as a 13-room, 21/2-story home with 10 bedrooms, a large porch and a circular upper-floor balcony.
Over time, it was remodeled into a 12-bedroom boardinghouse for out-of-town businesswomen and then into apartments.
A fire in 2005 heavily damaged the house's interior.
Metro on 12/23/2014