Purdom House (c.1850)

This Greek Revival house belonged to a local physician, Dr. James A. L. Purdom, and is an exhibit of nineteenth century medicine. Located behind the house is an herb garden that includes various herbs used for medicinal purposes. The building was restored in 1978 by Historic Washington State Park. Guided tours are available of the building. Visit the Historic Washington State Park Visitor Center for more information.

Dr. James A. L. Purdom was born in Jonesborough, Tennessee, in 1819. James Alexander Lafayette Purdom grew up in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1845, Purdom moved to Washington, five years after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. He became member of the local Episcopal Church and Mt. Horeb Masonic Lodge. During the Civil War, Purdom enlisted in the Confederate Army as a surgeon with the First Arkansas Cavalry before illness cut his service short in 1863. He passed away in 1866.

He started his practice of medicine in Washington in 1845 and continued until his death. His mother, Susannah Sevier, was the daughter of James Sevier, whose father was the first governor of Tennessee. His grandmother, Nancy Conway, was cousins to Arkansas's first governor James Sevier Conway, its fifth governor Elias Sevier, and territorial delegate Ambrose Hundley Sevier.

The Purdom home, built around 1850, was restored by the state park in 1978. It includes exhibits on the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century in southwest Arkansas and an herb garden with common medicinal plants.

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