Charles J. and Eudora Lincoln House

After obtaining experience in the pharmaceutical field, physician Charles J. Lincoln moved to Little Rock from Illinois in 1857, and following the Civil War he purchased interest in a Little Rock drug firm that later became the C. J. Lincoln Company. The wholesale drug house was the first such concern in Arkansas to employ traveling salesmen and was a major employer in Little Rock. Lincoln’s brick two-story house was representative of a man with stature in the business community. Construction began in 1872, and as soon as one bed-room was completed, the family moved into the house, which allowed Lincoln’s wife, Eudora, to make her many contributions to the design of the house. Though the Queen Anne style was a highly popular national trend for residential design at the time, Eudora stayed in step with architectural fashions in Arkansas by choosing the slightly outdated Italianate. Her design influence extended to the plaster ornamentation in the rooms and the crystal chandeliers in the hall, library, and both drawing rooms. The interior configuration of the house bears out the Italianate ideal of planning, with square rooms systematically arranged and divided by pocket doors. These spaces are embellished with heavy cornice moldings, high ceilings, and tall, narrow windows. The house has acquired rear additions, and the grounds behind the house retain an original cistern sheltered by a gazebo and a two-story carriage house with accommodations for servants.