AAC
moved to Bolivar, a frontier town named for a South American revolutionary and perhaps best distinguished by the presence of a popular horse-racing track. A courthouse and jail were built there, with the first court session held in 1839. County government remained there until it was moved three miles south in 1856 to a more central location at Harrisburg following a typically stormy election as different communities vied for the honor. Te town is named for Benjamin Harris, the first county judge’s son and the donor of the land on which the Poinsett County Courthouse stands. A brick courthouse was constructed in 1858 at the princely price of $8,800, and the building may have housed Confederate General M. Jeff Tompson’s headquarters when he commanded troops in the region in 1865. Te building survived the war but was damaged by a fire in 1873 as Poinsett County recovered from the conflict’s devastation, which prevented its full restoration until 1886. Te county’s economic comeback was speeded considerably when the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern and Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf railroads laid tracks through the area in early 1883. Poinsett County prospered as sawmills processed the county’s verdant timber and the railroads hauled furs, cotton, timber and cattle to larger cities, its population increasing from 1,720 in 1890 to 12,791 in 1910. It is not surprising, then, that the county’s leaders decided to erect a more impressive building when the 1872 courthouse burned down on May 4, 1917. Te county court hired Pine Bluff architect Mitchell Seligman to design an imposing — and fireproof — new courthouse and he set straight to work. Seligman’s design would feature four entrances in a Palladian
plan, with the principal
entrances of the two-story edifice flanked by columns topped with Corinthian capitals
supporting
massive Classical pediments adorned with the county’s name. Te ultimate design would borrow from the Roman, Palladian and Colonial Revival vocabularies, resulting in one of the most extraordinary public buildings in the state of Arkansas. County
Judge S.T. Mayo
ramrodded the project, which by June 6, 1917, had the county court levying a $91,000 tax effort to pay for the building, which was contracted to J.E. Hollingsworth, the builder of many of Poinsett County’s public structures during that era. Within two months, Mayo
COUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2018
FEATURE
was back to the county court for an additional $100,000 for the courthouse, elaborating on Seligman’s initial plan with the Modern News reporting: “Te old contract did not include the finishing of the basement, the installation of water fixtures, heating plant or septic tank.” Te new appropriation “was to cover the expense of these things and to furnish the building. Te small dome on the roof will be changed to a tower and clock and the walls will be constructed of Batesville or Bedford stone.” Te new Poinsett County Courthouse was up and
running by the end of 1918, and 10 years later a columnist for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis reported, “I saw the handsome courthouse seated in the ‘town square.’ Bless your life, Harrisburg is a typical courthouse town. It swings all around its palatial courthouse over which I read with pride the unusual name ‘Poinsett County’.” Poinsett County remains proud of its iconic centerpiece and had a big party on May 25, 2018, to celebrate its 100th birthday. Te county replanted the grounds surrounding the courthouse and festooned the building with patriotic banners on a day that also saw the dedication of a Civil War sesquicentennial marker noting General Tompson’s use of the town as his headquarters and the planting of a tree from the Arkansas Forestry Commission and Arkansas WWI Centennial Commemoration Committee to remember the doughboys who hailed from the county. As the Poinsett County Courthouse moves into its second century, it is clear that the citizens of the county appreciate what they have and intend to use it for decades to come. Te Poinsett County Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on Nov. 10, 1989.
Among the many programs and services of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is the County Courthouse Restoration Grant Program. Created in 1989, this grant pro- gram has helped to extend the lives of courthouses that hold vital links to community pride and local history. Tese grants are funded through the Real Estate Transfer Tax, administered by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council. Since the begin- ning of the program, the AHPP has awarded $24,721,298 to 79 historic courthouses and courthouse annexes around the state for use in rehabilitating, preserving and pro- tecting these important historic resources. Since 1990, Poinsett County has received 11 grants totaling $509,103 for the Poinsett County Courthouse in Harrisburg.
AHPP County Courthouse Restoration Grants awarded for Poinsett County Courthouse
FY1990 FY1999 FY2000 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2013 FY2018
Dome Restoration Entrance Restoration
Complete Entrance Restoration Master Plan and Chairlift
Complete Chairlift and Restore Masonry Dome Roof Restoration Roof Restoration
Downspout Restoration Masonry Restoration Attic Restoration
Repoint Clock Tower and Interior Restoration
$13,000 $18,650 $15,400 $15,000 $38,000 $93,528
$109,846 $26,127 $66,553 $31,186 $81,813
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