Our home at 620 West Washington Avenue was built in 1900 by the prominent attorney, Edward L. Westbrooke, who at the time of his passing at the age of 80 was the Dean of the Craighead County Bar.  He represented the Frisco Railroad for two generations, and eventually became the district attorney for the railroad.  According to the surviving members of the Westbrooke family, when asked what his fee would be for arranging the purchase of an important piece of land for the railroad, his answer was "Whatever you think it was worth." With that fee, he was able to build 620 and his office on Union Avenue.

     The home enjoys high ceilings, original wood floors, a beautiful stairway, and original quarter-sawn oak doors and pocket-doors throughout the house.  It has seven fireplaces, with mantels and original tile, all of which burned coal.  Most of the original plaster walls still exist.  The majority of our windows are original, and have the bubbles and the "wavy" look.  During the J. T. White family's ownership, the rear stairwell was removed and replaced with a full size elevator in approximately 1959, which still operates to this day.  The home has a large attic and a full basement, and is still heated with radiator heat.   To quote the autobiography of Carolyn Westbrooke Hallam "At home, I remember that in the summertime the laundry was done outdoors.  There would be two huge black kettles, one with a fire underneath to keep the water hot; the other, filled with cold water for rinsing.  The laundry was scrubbed on a big washboard using huge bars of soap.  Essie and her friend would do the washing once a week--this was mostly sheets, towels, and other linens.  Ironing was done in the kitchen.  The irons were heated on the wood stove."

     "We had two garages, located side by side, with their entrances facing west.  There was a storage room above the North garage.  An addition, facing south, was attached to the South garage.  This addition was the trash pit and a screened chicken house.  There were always several chickens in there and almost every Sunday we had fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, three kinds of vegtables, potatoes, salad, and chocolate-meringue pie or a cake.  My mother baked marvelous pies and cakes."

     "Mr. Crosby, the milkman, delivered milk, eggs and butter almost every day except Saturdays and Sundays.  In those days raw milk was sold in Arkansas.  Mama would not buy raw milk.  Pastuerized milk was shipped by train to Jonesboro from Memphis.  This was the kind of milk that Mr. Crosby brought with the order.  When no one was looking, I would peel off the top of one of the bottles of milk, and with a spoon help myself to the rich cream on top of the milk.  Of course, it did not take Mama long to figure out how the cream disappeared.  Sometimes I got a good scolding, but sometimes I would see Mama secretly smile, as if amused."

     We are the third owners of this wonderful home, and are always working to maintain it's beauty and history.   Ken and Cindy Gibson