The Quapaw Quarter of Little Rock, Arkansas, is a section of the city including its oldest and most historic business and residential neighborhoods. The area's name was first given in 1961, honoring the Quapaw Indians who lived in the area centuries ago. As many as fifteen separate National Historic Register Districts make up the Quapaw Quarter, including more than 200 separate homes and buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. ''Trapnall Hall'', along East Capitol Avenue, was among the first of the homes built in 1843 as the home of early state legislator Frederic Trapnall and his wife, Martha. Structures housing businesses on Main Street and Broadway south of Interstate 630 are also among this group. Throughout the Quapaw Quarter, many small and large homes from the Antebellum and Victorian eras can be found, in addition to several examples of Craftsman-style architecture. Scott, Center, and Spring streets, in particular, are where many such homes stand today. The exterior of the Villa Marre, one such home, was known nationally as the outside of the home containing the office of Sugarbaker Designs, the fictional Atlanta-based interior design firm on the CBS sitcom '' Designing Women''. The actual home is along Little Rock's Scott Street, and has been a former home for the office of the Quapaw Quarter Association, the chief organization that sponsors historic preservation efforts in the area.

Notable Quapaw Quarter neighborhoods

Governor's Mansion District

Along with the Villa Marre, the exterior of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion was also featured on ''Designing Women'', shown as the home of

Suzanne Sugarbaker ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS from September 29, 1986, to May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason M ...

. The mansion and its grounds comprise a city block, dividing Center Street in its 1800-numbered block, and anchor the city's Governor's Mansion Historic District, encompassing many homes and businesses along and around lower Broadway. The first official residence of Arkansas's governors opened on January 10, 1950, to a week-long open house for all Arkansans. The Georgian Colonial Revival home was renovated and expanded from 2000 through 2002, reopening for the inauguration of

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomina ...

's second full term as

Governor of Arkansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

in early 2003.

MacArthur Park Historic District

The MacArthur Park Historic District, dedicated in 1981, adjoins the city's MacArthur Park along East 9th Street, including the

Arkansas Arts Center The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), formerly known as the Arkansas Arts Center, is an art museum located in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum is undergoing an expansion and renovation. During this time, it is closed to the ...

, and the circa-1840 Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal. This building in the district contains the birthplace of General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

, a foremost commander of American forces in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

during World War II.

South Main Residential Historic District

The South Main Residential Historic District — nicknamed SoMa by some area locals — was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 according to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The district, which runs along South Main Street between 19th and 24th streets, is notable for its assortment of quality late 19th and early 20th century residential architecture, including the Queen Anne, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival styles.

Area landmarks

Mount Holly Cemetery

Another area landmark is Mount Holly Cemetery, at the intersection of 12th and Broadway streets, with one of the largest collections of gravesites of notable Arkansans, from past governors, senators, and mayors to Confederate spy

David Owen Dodd David Owen Dodd (November 10, 1846 – January 8, 1864), also known as David O. Dodd, was an Arkansas youth executed for spying in the American Civil War. In December 1863 Dodd carried some letters to business associates of his father in Uni ...

and ''Arkansas Gazette'' founder William E. Woodruff. The cemetery dates from 1843, and is among the several locations throughout the Quapaw Quarter on the National Register of Historic Places.

Notable businesses

The edge of the Quapaw Quarter, near the

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

central business district, contains the headquarters of the '' Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'', the state's largest newspaper, with roots in the ''Arkansas Gazette'' founded in 1819, and the ''Arkansas Democrat'' founded in 1878. Its headquarters are in a circa-1904 building at the intersection of East Capitol Avenue and Scott Street that formerly housed a branch of the YMCA. Boulevard Bread Company has an outlet on Main Street.

External links

Quapaw Quarter Association
official website
Arkansas Governor's Mansion
(c. 1950) official website *An alternate version of th
Arkansas Governor's Mansion
virtual tour at the Arkansas Governor's Office official website
Trapnall Hall
(c. 1843) official web page, including information on one of Little Rock's oldest homes, today serving as the Arkansas Governor's official reception hall
Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church
website, whose congregation's Gothic Revival church building dates from the 1920s
Mount Holly Cemetery page
at findagrave.com {{Coord, 34.73437, -92.27302, format=dms, display=title, type:city_region:US-AR Neighborhoods in Little Rock, Arkansas