Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum

10/15/2026

👻 ADOPT A GHOST! 👻
Is your home lacking a little spooky Gothic charm? 🖤
Struggling to connect with your emo teenager?
Or perhaps you just need someone to haunt your halls and silently judge your life choices?
Have we got a solution for you!
Introducing ADOPT A GHOST! 👻
These adorable little spirits were recently discovered in a mysterious box and have been ethically sourced, carefully evaluated, and determined to be mostly friendly.
Each ghost is searching for its forever haunt, and YOU could be the lucky human to give one a home! 🏚️
🕸️ Available exclusively at the Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum through November 1⚠️ Fine print from the spirit world: The Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum assumes no responsibility for unexplained noises, misplaced belongings, mysterious cold spots, midnight apparitions, or general ghostly mischief.
All adoptions are final. No refunds, returns, or exorcisms.
Remember: Don’t shop. ADOPT. 👻🖤

10/04/2026

🎂✨ Happy 104th Birthday to Maureen Pera! ✨🎂

Today, APTA celebrates a truly remarkable woman and an extraordinary part of our organization’s history.

Maureen Pera, APTA’s oldest living Past President, turns 104 years young today! ❤️

Maureen didn’t serve as President just once—or even twice. She answered the call to lead APTA three separate times, serving from 1984–1987, 1998–2000, and 2006–2008.

Think about that for a moment: her presidential service to APTA spans more than two decades of our organization’s history.

Through changing times, new challenges, and new generations of preservationists, Maureen’s commitment to protecting the places and stories that make Tennessee special has remained part of APTA’s legacy.

At 104, she reminds us that historic preservation has always been about more than buildings. It is about people—the people who recognize that something matters and choose to protect it for those who come next.

Maureen, today we celebrate you: 104 years of life, three terms of leadership, and a remarkable legacy of service.

Please join us in wishing Past President Maureen Pera a very happy 104th birthday! 🎉🎈💐

10/02/2026

We told y’all Mollie never left. 🫣

Apparently Intuit believes us.

109 years later and our girl is still getting junk mail. 💳👻😂

09/26/2026

On this day, September 26, 1918, Elliott Hill Fontaine died in this house. He was just 34 years old.

Born July 8, 1884, Elliott was the youngest son of Noland and Virginia Fontaine. He spent his life in Memphis and, according to his obituary, made his home with his mother at 680 Adams Avenue—the home we now know as the Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum.

In September 1918, Elliott came home from his day’s work at Union and Planters Bank complaining that he was exhausted and suffering from what seemed to be a heavy cold.

His obituary in The Commercial Appeal reported that the illness was later diagnosed as “grippe,” the term commonly used for influenza. Pneumonia rapidly developed.

Elliott died at home on the morning of September 26.

His death certificate records the cause of death as double lobar pneumonia, with influenza listed as a contributing cause.

Elliott was a paying teller in the savings department of Union and Planters Bank, where he had worked for several years. His obituary described him as “popular with a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in Memphis where his whole life had been passed.”

His funeral was held the following afternoon here at the family home. The Rev. W. D. Buckner, rector of Calvary Church, where Elliott was a member, officiated. Elliott was then laid to rest at Elmwood Cemetery.

His death came during one of the most devastating pandemics in modern history. But 108 years later, Elliott Fontaine is more than a name among the millions lost to influenza.

He was a son and brother. A banker. A friend. A lifelong Memphian.

And today, in the home where he lived—and where his life ended—we remember him.

Elliott Hill Fontaine
July 8, 1884 – September 26, 1918 🕯️

Sources: Tennessee Certificate of Death; The Commercial Appeal, September 27, 1918.

09/20/2026

On this day, September 20, 1917, Mary Louise “Mollie” Woodruff Henning passed away.

Born November 26, 1851, Mollie was the daughter of Amos and Phoebe Woodruff and a member of the family for whom the Woodruff-Fontaine House is named.

In December 1871, shortly after the completion of her father’s magnificent new home on Adams Avenue, Mollie married Egbert Wooldridge inside the mansion. The newlyweds remained in the home with her parents, living on the second floor.

Her years there would be marked by tremendous loss.

In 1875, Mollie gave birth to a son who died the same day. Only months later, Egbert died at the Woodruff home following a boating accident and subsequent illness.

In 1883, Mollie married James Henning and began a new chapter of her life. Once again, however, she experienced the loss of a child at birth.

Mollie died at her home at 1706 Poplar Avenue on September 20, 1917. Her death certificate records her as “Mollie L. Henning,” age 65, and lists her cause of death as heart failure and valvular heart disease. She was laid to rest at Elmwood Cemetery the following day.

Even historical records are imperfect. Mollie’s death certificate incorrectly records her father’s name—one small reminder of why careful preservation and continued research matter.

And for more than a century after her death, Mollie rested in the Woodruff family plot without a marker bearing her name.

That changed in 2019, when a headstone was finally placed at her grave.

It reads:

MOLLIE WOODRUFF
November 26, 1851 – September 20, 1917
Sheltered and Safe From Sorrow.

Today, 109 years after her death, we remember Mollie not simply for the legends that have grown around her, but for the woman herself—a daughter, wife, mother, and Memphian whose life was marked by both tremendous loss and perseverance.

Her story remains part of this house.

And this October, visitors to Dinner with the Departed may just have the opportunity to hear from Mollie once again. 🕯️

09/14/2026

Y’all, we have to give a little love to our fellow APTA members and historic house museums! 🏛️❤️

We’ve been enjoying Glenmore Mansion’s social media lately, and if you love beautiful old houses, fascinating history, and seeing historic places brought to life in creative ways, you’ll want to give them a follow!

One of our favorite things about being part of the historic house museum community is seeing how other sites tell their stories — and occasionally thinking, “Okay, that was REALLY cool.” 😂

Go show Glenmore some love and tell them Woodruff-Fontaine sent you! 🥰

Historic houses supporting historic houses. Always. ❤️

09/14/2026

09/14/2026

On this day, 114 years ago, Noland Fontaine passed away.

On September 14, 1912, Mr. Fontaine died from complications during an exploratory surgery performed by his son-in-law, Dr. William Taylor, in the large parlor of the Woodruff-Fontaine mansion.

His son, Elliott Fontaine, watched the surgery from the corner of the room. Later that day, he recorded his father’s death in his journal:

September 14 – Saturday

“My father died from the operation, at 4:40 today. May God give my mother the strength to bear the loss with a Christian resignation. It’s a cruel blow to us all, but we have the consolation of knowing we did what was right.”

— Elliott Fontaine, Daily Reminder, 1912

Today, 114 years later, we remember Noland Fontaine and the family who mourned his loss within the walls of this home.

Mr. Fontaine, may you rest in peace. 🕯️

09/11/2026

Today, we pause to remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001, and honor the first responders, service members, families, and countless others whose lives were forever changed.

We remember. We honor. We will never forget. 🇺🇸