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Sites of Memory and Meaning: Architecture in the Quapaw Quarter
Item 7 of 18

Allison-Crawford House

Introduction

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Originally constructed in 1890 and located on Spring Street, the Allison-Crawford House sits near the heart of the Quapaw Quarter, a section of Little Rock which comprises its oldest and most historic business and residential neighborhoods. The name Quapaw comes from a corruption or mispronunciation of a word for a Native American Tribe which originally inhabited the area where the city of Little Rock is now situated. This name was informally applied to the land west of the original city of Little Rock in the nineteenth century. Then, in 1961 the name of Quapaw Quarter was more formally assigned. Now, it is a well-loved and treasured historic district featuring constructions of the Victorian, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival, Italianate, and Craftsman Styles.

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Backstory and Context

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According to the records of the Quapaw Quarter Association, in the mid-1890s a man named Patrick Crawford purchased at this location a house which had originally been built by William Allison. It’s unclear if Crawford then greatly remodeled a house already situated on the property or demolished the original structure, replacing it with the existing Queen Anne style house.

In the United States, the Queen Anne Style of architecture refers to a wide range of picturesque buildings which borrow freely from the architectural features of the Italian Renaissance and avoid the features of English Gothic. Queen Anne Style runs from approximately 1880 to 1910 and refers to architecture, decorative arts, and furniture. In architecture, the Queen Anne Style incorporates distinctive gables and turrets, asymmetrical facades, dominant front-facing gables which are often cantilevered out beyond the supporting wall, pedimented porches, balconies, overhanging eaves, leaded glass, dentils, balustrades, columns, and wooden or slate roofs.

At any rate, the Allison-Crawford House today clearly demonstrates the Queen Anne Style with its front-facing gabled roof, asymmetrical facade, delicate columns, and ornate decorative embellishments.

Sources

https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/quapaw-550/

http://www.quapawtribe.com/401/Tribal-Name

http://www.historicarkansas.org/exhibits/we-walk-in-two-worlds

https://www.littlerock.gov/!userfiles/editor/docs/planning/hdc/QQA%20tour%202014.pdf

http://www.askthearchitect.org/architectural-styles/queen-anne-style-architecture