1972 - Stewart Woodard

Stewart Woodard moved into 504 Polk Street in 1972. He and his partner Jim Cash renovated two houses in Oakwood.

“A bunch of us moved over there at the same time… Ronnie Ellis and Eric Ennis and Bill Makepeace. I was ready for a house and it was the most economical thing I could find, plus I fell in love with the neighborhood. I bought my house for $7500. My partner Jim Cash and I did most of the work ourselves.”

“That little bit of money we made the first few years (of the Christmas tour) helped pay for printing brochures and flyers and petitions to save the neighborhood (from the North-South freeway). We all worked together as a community. It was as much social as it was political.”

“One of the greatest things was when we got the Tucker House saved and moved across the street. I remember standing on the street when they started to raise it. We had a street party as they were moving it. I definitely remember, after it was moved, all of us going there to clean it. We all went up there and worked for–I can’t tell you for how long–so we could use it for the Christmas Tour, scrubbing and cleaning and placing furniture that came with it. That was a great time and we all felt like we were part of it.”

“When anyone would move in and was fixing up their house, everybody kind of chipped in with the best of their abilities. I just loved the social aspect of (the neighborhood) and the closeness. There are so many people that I’m still close to. Oh, it was one of the greatest times of my life.” -Stewart Woodard