This courthouse, at least the central portion of which, is claimed by some (
www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.... ) to date back to 1839-40. Unfortunately a great deal of the building was destroyed by fire in 1976. Therefore it was temporarily out of use for a period of four years until it could be rebuilt to its original appearance in the 1980s. At that time expansions were made to the rear of the building, as can be seen here:
www.courthousehistory.com/gallery/index.php?state=Arkansa...
Although the courthouse appears Antebellum, there are a number of Arkansans who believe this structure to be very much a late 20th Century construction. Those that hold to its original construction date of 1840 say that this is not only the oldest courthouse in the state, but also the oldest working county courthouse in the United States west of the Mississippi River. Some in Iowa make the argument that their 1840 Van Buren County Courthouse in Keosauqua is actually the oldest working courthouse west of the Mississippi. That courthouse can be seen here:
www.flickr.com/photos/courthouselover/7862077922/in/photo...
I will let you readers make up your own minds, as I have only visited these places, and I have not done the in depth research required to make such a call.
