AAC
FEATURE
Left: Increasing population numbers necessitated the construction of a new courthouse North of the 1889 building. It was constructed in the Classical Beaux-Arts style and completed in 1914. Right top: The center rotunda of the 1914 building opens to the second floor and is lit by an intricate stained glass dome that doubled as a skylight. Right middle: The entrance is accessed via three centered arches featuring transom fans infilled with decora- tive iron grills above glass double-doors embellished with ironwork. Masculine stonework faces, or mascarons, ornament the keystones above each entry arch. Right bottom: Decorative elements abound in both buildings.
limestone belt courses, arches and window lintels and deep red terra cotta gables, cornice molding and columnettes with Corinthian capitals. Te complex roof configuration was originally slate, but by 1979 it had been replaced with composition shingles. In 2004, the county received a $140,000 grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage to reinstall a slate roof. Tree corners of the building
feature round two-story towers with conical roofs topped with iron finials. Asymmetry is introduced on the southeast corner through the use of a four-story square clock tower with domed roof. In 1961 storm damage necessitated the removal of the top two levels of the tower. In 1995 the Department
of Arkansas Heritage
provided $90,000 in grants to restore the tower to its original appearance, including the four clock faces for each cardinal direction and the terra cotta
COUNTY LINES, FALL 2018
seal of the state of Arkansas. Te interior of the 1889 courthouse was appropriately appointed with the most current fittings. Double quarter- turn staircases feature heavy Eastlake cast-iron newel posts and cast-iron balustrades exhibiting a curving floral design. Te iron risers of the stairs display a fish scale pattern. Matching arches to the east and west of the lobby area are constructed of highly glazed brown bricks with plaster keystones at the crown. By the turn of the century the original
courthouse had become too cramped. Increasing population numbers and the annexation of Argenta (later re- named North Little Rock) as the city’s eighth ward taxed the efficiency of the 1889 building. It was decided that a new courthouse would be built north of the original courthouse to provide
See “COURTHOUSE” on Page 46 >>> 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
