Editorial
Front Page - Friday, April 24, 2009
From past to present... a history of Arkansas courthouses
Calhoun County
Rebecca Brockman
Calhoun County might have the smallest population out of Arkansas’ 75 counties, but that doesn’t mean the county doesn’t have a rich history and promising future.
The county was named after John C. Calhoun, America’s seventh vice president, who served under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Calhoun County was formed on Dec. 6, 1850, from parts of Dallas, Ouachita and Bradley counties.
Hampton serves as the present-day county seat. In addition to the county seat, the cities of Harrell, Thornton and Tinsman are located in the county.
Calhoun’s southernmost border is a mere 25 miles from the Louisiana state line. Due to the Champagnolle Creek that flows down the center of the county, the area is also referred to as the Gulf Coastal Plain.
There is also a rich abundance of timber in the area, which provides economic stimulus and a unique bragging privilege. You see, Calhoun County shares the Moro Creek Natural Area with Cleveland County. The Moro Creek Natural Area is one of the few almost completely unharmed tracts of virgin hardwoods still existing in Arkansas.
The last known native residents in Calhoun County are assumed to have been the ancestors of the historic Koroa Indians. When Native Americans were removed from the area during the early 1800s, some of the uprooted people followed their own “Trail of Tears” through the southern part of the Arkansas territory.
Hernando de Soto, the first European explorer of present-day Arkansas never entered what is now Calhoun County. Although he never set foot in the area, legend has it that about 700 hogs escaped from de Soto’s expedition and thrived in the river bottom there. The wild runaway hogs became the namesake of the county: “Hogskin County.”
Another rather more gory legend tells of how men from Union County would row across the river to kill and skin de Soto’s hogs. The skins were left in piles on the Calhoun side.
Since de Soto was busy replacing his disobedient pigs, other Europeans and explorers visited the area. French-Canadian hunters, trappers and traders were probably the first Europeans to visit the area. The Frenchman left their lasting mark on the county, by assigning names such as Acacia (Locust Bayou), Champagnolle and Moro to parts of the area.
William Dunbar and George Hunter were officially the first American citizens to visit what is now Calhoun County. Their exploration lasted from October 1804 to January 1805. Settlers were attracted to the area by the rich, fertile bottomland, sandy loam soil and the easy access for trade provided by the river. Families from Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee chose this area as a starting point for a new life.
Nathaniel Hunt, who came from Tennessee, was the first settler to arrive in Hampton. A decision to locate a new site for the county seat was made at Hunt’s farm in 1851. After Hampton was suggested as the county seat, the settlement grew rapidly. The first county court met on May 27, 1851, at the house of James Riggs.
When the citizens outgrew Rigg’s homestead, A.B. Leary and R. Earnest Esquires were appointed as commissioners to “let a contract to the lowest bidder.” The new courthouse was 34 x 24 and included two rooms: one for the jury and the other for the clerk’s office. Using the county’s natural resources, the courthouse was constructed with pine and cypress wood. An accompanying jail made out of logs was also built. The jail served the county until it was burned down in 1872. A second jail was built quickly after the first one turned to ashes. The one-story jailhouse was built for $4,800 and considered “maximum security” for that time period, for the interior walls contained a sound iron cage.
Eight short years later, a new courthouse was built on an elevated knoll in the center of town. Jacob A. Murph, Bennett Harrell and Jacob A. Bull were appointed building commissioners. The county court appropriated $4,000 to construct a new courthouse. Calhoun County’s second courthouse doubled in size. The new courthouse was a large, two-story building with four large offices for the county officials. And a sizable courtroom was found on the second floor.
Shortly after the construction of courthouse number two, the Civil War descended on the country and although Calhoun County never saw a battle, the county felt the aftermath. Over 400 soldiers from the county fought in the war, which greatly affected its farming and commerce industries. Men volunteered to join local companies such as the “Yellow Jackets” and “the Invincibles.” The male population of the county was almost demolished by the war.
Like every area affected by war either directly or indirectly, reconstruction takes place and so was the case in Calhoun County. The St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad, also known as the Cotton Belt, brought economical recovery to the area.
But reconstruction was slow. The new mode of transportation allowed for the harvesting of the profitable virgin timber and the lumber industry boomed. Before the convenience of the locomotion, cypress logs were floated down to New Orleans.
No wonder the industry boomed! The railroads caused several mills to sprout around the county. New mills provided jobs for over 300 people and strengthened the weak economy.
More people and a growing city caused the county to review the needs of their citizens. At a meeting on Oct. 23, 1905, Judge T.N. Means ordered that a “new and modern courthouse, together with a fireproof vault attached thereto, be built in the town of Hampton on the present courthouse site. [The courthouse should] not exceed the sum of $56,000.”
C.L. Poole was appointed commissioner of public buildings and his first priority as commissioner was erecting a new courthouse.
Poole hired the company Gibb & Sanders Architects to draw up plans and specifications. On Oct. 14, 1909, the court approved contractor E.L. Koonce (of Fordyce) to build the new Classical and Colonial Revival style courthouse. The contract allocated a 10-month time frame for completion. Amazingly, the building cost $37,450, which was well below the amount set by Means.
According to reports, the courtroom on the second floor has an unusual design – the wood benches for spectator seating are on a series of eight wooden risers. The Calhoun County courthouse might be the only courthouse in the state with risers for spectator seating. But that’s OK with Calhoun County. The southeast county is used to being unique and enjoys the standing out from the rest
of the crowd in Hogskin County.
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