When Alexandria was first surveyed as a town in 1805, the site that is today called “River Oaks” was one-half block south of the public square.

In 1899, James Wade Bolton, of the prominent Alexandria banking family, acquired the house that today bears his name, from Joseph Hirsch.

Remodeled in 1910 by Bolton, the house today is little changed from that early twentieth century remodeling.

The James Wade Bolton House was entered in the National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 1979, under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The house is exemplary of Queen Anne Revival architecture in Louisiana. Showing traditional regional influences such as long leaf yellow pine framing and a raised on-pier foundation, it features twice the number of principal rooms usually found in such fine residences.

Additional features include fifteen foot ceilings, oak paneling, an extravagant use of windows and an expansive curving front veranda supported by Ionic columns.

The James Wade Bolton House was donated by Mrs. James Calderwood Bolton, Frances Bolton Davis, Mary Bolton Brown, and Robert H. Bolton to the City of Alexandria in 1979 for a contemporary regional arts and crafts center.

It became home to the programs and artists of River Oaks in 1984 under an operating agreement between the City of Alexandria and River Oaks Square Arts Center, a nonprofit organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors.