The Cobb House: A Biography of a Place

A house is not usually thought of as a living, breathing entity, but with the inhalations of new occupants and the exhalations of old presiders, suddenly a house becomes more than brick and mortar, more than shingles and nails, more than the landscape on which it stands. From the laying of the first stone, it breathes its first breath, takes its first step; and magically, a house is constant, viable, and lives forever. How does one tell the story of such a place- a place that defines the culture of the South in general and Arkansas in particular. Perhaps one begins with the birth of the house and tells of its entire life. By writing the story that a particular place tells, the biographer makes that place a symbol with eternal immortality. Such a symbol was born in 1860 in the small Southern town of Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Today, 141 years later, this symbol is known as the Cobb House, and it remains a symbol of Arkansas and the South