511 S. Main Street
Jonesboro, Arkansas
870-276-3600
Craighead County and Jonesboro were created in 1859. For a year there was no courthouse, but the State Legislature authorized the organization of a temporary county government and the house of William Puryear was designated as the temporary county seat. Several years later the highest point in Jonesboro was selected as the location of the town square. The designation of this site for the courthouse was not without controversy as it meant the loss of an excellent area for duck, turkey, deer, and bear hunting. The development went ahead and a two-story frame courthouse was built c. 1862. This courthouse survived until 1869 when it was burned destroying all county records. Angry townspeople blamed the state militia quartered at the courthouse the night before. The square was allowed to revert to a natural state and a second courthouse was situated in a store west of the square. This building was destroyed by fire in 1869. Locals blamed the state militia quartered at the courthouse the night before the fire. A frame building just west of Court Square was used to conduct county business until 1876 when Craighead County moved its records to a new frame courthouse. Two years later, another fire destroyed the Courthouse, its records, and eight other businesses in downtown Jonesboro. Due to these fires, Craighead County's records are only continuous back to March 28, 1878. A third courthouse, also placed in the lot west of the square, met the same fate when a fire swept the block in 1885.
Craighead County citizens decided it would be a good idea to construct a building with fireproof storage vaults in their next courthouse. This two-story building featuring a four-story clock tower survived a devastating fire in 1889 that destroyed several surrounding Main Street businesses, only to be razed in 1933 for the construction of the current courthouse in 1934. The current Craighead County Courthouse was dedicated on April 3, 1935 and is the only notable example of Art Deco construction in Jonesboro. The brick building is accented with vertical limestone panels containing floral patterns and horizontal limestone coping carved with a wing motif at each corner. Additions made in 1992 and 1995 applied ornamentation that reflect the 1934 design of the main courthouse building. The Craighead County Courthouse was entered on the National Register on September 11, 1998.
Several monuments are situated on the current courthouse lawn. Predating the 1934 structure is an American Doughboy monument to World War I veterans at the northeast corner of Washington and Main Streets. This was the first World War I monument built in the south, and one of the first to be erected in America. The monument was unveiled on Memorial Day, May 30, 1920. It was built at a cost of several thousand dollars by the citizens of Craighead County, who bought the statue in Chicago in 1919 and commissioned Robert Morris of Memphis to construct the base.
Visiting the Craighead County Courthouse
The interior of the courthouse is open during normal business hours.
The exterior is accessible at any time.
There is no charge to visit the Craighead County Courthouse.
A note about accessibility: There are no designated handicapped parking spots but visitors can drive up to the main building to be let off. The main building is accessible but many others are not. The restrooms are not constructed to accommodate wheelchairs.
