Columbia County Courthouse

This is one of Arkansas’s most sophisticated and finely detailed small-town courthouses. The three-story Beaux-Arts classical building is the third courthouse on the site; the first, a temporary log structure erected in 1852, was replaced in 1856. The current courthouse, with entrances to the surrounding square on all four sides, is faced with smooth gray-brown brick and generously trimmed with limestone. The rectangular massing is ornamented by pilasters with Ionic capitals lining the second story and by a modillioned and dentiled cornice. The long north and south elevations feature semicircular bays at the second and third story to accommodate a large courtroom with curved walls. Loggias on the second story are supported by Ionic columns and connected by a lacy wrought-iron balustrade. The principal entrance on the east elevation, visible for a long distance down E. Main Street, is through a projecting pedimented pavilion with arches below and Ionic columns above. Originally, circulation to the four entrances was through dramatic arcaded cross corridors; unfortunately, two have been closed off, leaving only the east–west corridor and the east–west entrances open. The courtrooms have also been considerably altered.