Alice French House (Clover Bend, Arkansas) facts for kids

The Alice French House, also known as Thanford, was an important historic home. It was located near Clover Bend, Arkansas, in the United States. This house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It was later removed from the list in 2002.

Who Was Alice French?

Alice French was born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1850. When she was five years old, her family moved to Davenport, Iowa. She became the first writer from Iowa to be famous across the country.

Her first short story appeared in a local newspaper in 1871. By the 1880s, her stories were being published in popular magazines like The Atlantic and Harper’s. She wrote under the pen name Octave Thanet. Her stories became very popular in the 1890s and early 1900s.

French and her friend, Jane Allen Crawford, spent their winters at Clover Bend Plantation in Lawrence County, Arkansas. They lived there from 1883 to 1909. Alice French wrote many stories about the people in the Clover Bend area. She often wrote about the lives of poor black and white sharecroppers.

As time passed, people's tastes in literature changed. Alice French's work became less popular. She stopped writing and began working in social services. She passed away in Davenport in 1934.

The Thanford House

Alice French and Jane Allen Crawford first lived in a small cabin on the plantation. This cabin was destroyed by a fire in 1895. So, in 1896, they built a new house called Thanford. It was located right next to the Black River.

Thanford was a large house with three stories and fifteen rooms. Its name was a mix of Alice French's pen name (Thanet) and Jane Allen Crawford's last name (Crawford, shortened to ford). The land around the house was beautifully designed. They even brought shrubs from England to decorate the gardens. The stables at Thanford housed fancy horses and an elegant carriage.

The house was a center for many literary and social events. Alice French's study was on the top floor. From there, she had an amazing view of the river. She and Jane entertained many famous people, including Theodore Roosevelt, who later became a U.S. President. They offered fine meals and wines to their guests. Alice French also had a woodworking shop where she built shelves and simple furniture. She even had a darkroom to develop and print her own photographs.