Editorial
Front Page - Friday, June 05, 2009
From past to present... a history of Arkansas courthouses
Drew County
Rebecca Brockman
There has to be a story behind a place where the first county seat was a town called Rough and Ready. The uniquely named town belongs to Drew County in southeast Arkansas. Although Monticello is the current county seat, there are many chapters to peruse before we arrive at the county’s current situation.
Drew County was formed on Nov. 26, 1846. The boundary lines changed often in 1846, 1848, 1861 and again in 1873. When the county was formed, it was divided into six municipal townships: Marion, Union, White, Osceola, Smith and Bartholomew. The namesake of the county belongs to Gov. Thomas S. Drew, who was the governor of the Natural State at the time.
Settlement in Drew County was slow, due to its inaccessibility and the fear of Native Americans. Originally, the only road into the county was the old Chihuahua Trail, also known as Military Road, which connected Chickasaw Bluffs (now Memphis) with Chihuahua, Mexico. After accessibility improved, settlers came from Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and the Carolinas.
Back to Rough and Ready – the area was actually settled in 1836,
10 years before Drew County was formed. The first Circuit Court met at the home of A.M. Rawles on March 22, 1847, in a town near Independence, which is about a mile south of Monticello, the present-day county seat. Independence later became known as Rough and Ready, the nickname of President Zachary Taylor. There was also a public school in Rough and Ready before Drew County established one in 1870.
Circuit Court was held on the third Monday in February and August for two weeks. After the first term of court, the seat of justice was moved from the home of A.M. Rawles to a schoolhouse. During the first session, Jesse Newton, a citizen of the town, was granted a license to retail spirituous and vinous liquors.
In October 1849, three commissioners, Josiah Halcomb, John M. Carr and J. Sanders, were selected to locate a site for a new county courthouse.
The following year, Fountain C. Austin deeded the county 83.02 acres to build a new courthouse upon. Lots were sold from the donated land to pay for the new courthouse. Less than $500 was allotted to pay for the building material and $174 was put aside for labor.
It is interesting to note that the first library in Arkansas was probably located in Drew County. According to an article by Walter Moffatt in the Drew County Historical Journal, Congress said they would donate books to every congressional district that provided a suitable place to put them. Albert Rust, a business man of Rough and Ready, and a group of citizens requested that the County Court permit the books to be housed in the grand jury room. The request was granted and around the late 1850s, the county started their first library.
A mere five years later, in 1855, plans for a new, 40’ x 65’ two-story courthouse were submitted. The maximum cost for the new courthouse was $5,300. It’s unclear why the county was in need of a new courthouse or why the county seat was moved to Monticello. Nonetheless, the county’s second courthouse had a lovely painted roof and gutters that carried water to a 500-barrel cistern. According to research, the courthouse was carpeted with “bagging” and had a $40 bell attached to the tower.
In the summer of 1860, $6,350 was appropriated for the building of a new jail and in 1866, $4,500 was devoted to repairs.
According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, Monticello witnessed three minor battles during the Civil War in 1864 and 1865. After the war was over, the Ku Klux Klan was organized in retaliation against the “carpetbagger” rule.
On a more positive note, the Iron Mountain Railroad came to Monticello in 1880 and provided faster and better long-distance transportation to the citizens of Drew County. Monticello Bank, the town’s first bank, opened in April 1887. Telephone service reached the area in 1898 and a productive cottonseed oil mill opened in 1890.
Around the railroad and technology boom in Drew County, Monticello was getting ready to build their second courthouse.
When plans for the new courthouse came together, the previous courthouse was sold and moved off the site to the west of the courthouse square. Still functional, the old
courthouse served as a commercial property.
David S. Wells, Robert S. Farish, James A. Jackson, W.A. Nelson and Eli K. Haynes were chosen for a special committee to find a lot and submit plans for a new courthouse. The committee was also required to find an architect for the courthouse construction. Costs for the county’s third seat of justice were not to exceed $25,000. Wells established contact with Jones & Baldwin, a leading architectural firm from Memphis, Tenn.
A contract for the courthouse from Jones & Baldwin was accepted for $29,970. The cornerstone was laid in October 1870. In the end, the courthouse reportedly cost between $35,000 and $48,000.
According to an article by Donald Holley in the Drew County Historical Journal, the Second Empire-style courthouse was created to appear castle-like. Holley said the design that inspired Jones & Baldwin reflected the fashionable architectural style that was sweeping the country. Second Empire style has many distinguishable features, including a mansard roof, which is a roof with two slopes; the lower, almost vertical slope, allows extra roof space for attic rooms. The Old Main building on the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville was actually built around the same time and exhibits the Second Empire style nicely. Bricks for the courthouse construction were made locally at Jordan’s Field, about a mile north of Monticello. Joe Laude, a Monticello furniture dealer
and native of France, fashioned all of the courthouse’s window and doorframes. A 110-feet high clock tower kept time for the citizens of Monticello and also served as the town’s fire alarm. The prominent clock also called courts into session and welcomed the new year.
The Monticellonian predicted that the new courthouse would cause real estate values in the area to increase from 25 to 50 percent.
According to Holley, the county was anxious to keep the new building looking new, so the court passed ordinances that threatened fines for writing or spitting on the walls of the new courthouse. He went on to quote a Drew County citizen in his article that said the courthouse was the “temple of justice, town hall, community house, theatre and grand ball room all in one.” The courthouse even served as the post office for Monticello and occasionally a skating rink and lecture hall.
As the courthouse grew in size and style, so did the town of Monticello. During the early part of the 20th century, Monticello experienced growth and prosperity. At the beginning of World War II, the Monticello Cotton Mill, with manufactured a coarse grade of cotton material that was used by the military for tents, cots and awnings. The success of the cotton mill helped ease the effects of the Great Depression.
The fourth courthouse in Drew County and third in Monticello was constructed in 1932. County records piled up and many of the older records were either lost or destroyed in the crowded vault. Therefore, a new courthouse, with more space, was needed in the county. So, as the mill manufactured valuable cotton, the walls of the courthouse started to take form. Some citizens believed that the previous courthouse should be restored and used for other purposes, but it was eventually demolished.
Architect H. Ray Burks designed the fourth and current courthouse. Evident of the era, the courthouse was not designed to look like a castle, but instead was a combination of Classical Moderne and Art Deco style. The latter was a popular art design movement from 1925 until 1939. The fourth Drew County Courthouse was added to the National Register on Oct. 17, 1997.
From Rough and Ready to Monticello and four courthouses later, Drew County has grown, matured and held fast to its belief in education, justice and prosperity.
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