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Poinsett County, the thirty-ninth county created, was
formed February 27, 1838.
It was named for Joel R. Poinsett from South Carolina.
He was the Secretary of War under President Van Buren.
Poinsett was also a scientist and a botanist who is
said to have introduced the favorite Christmas flower
to American horticulture. It was named "poinsettia"
in his honor.
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Poinsett County was formed from territory taken from the
counties of Green and St. Francis. Later in 1859 Craighead
County was created by taking much of the north part of the
Poinsett. In 1862 Cross County was created by taking much
of the south portion of the county.
The county site was named for General Simon Bolivar. In
1839 the first courthouse was built there. It was a two-story
building made of hewed poplar logs. Bolivar was a typical
frontier town with general stores, saloons, blacksmiths, hotels,
shops, lawyers and doctor's offices. Bolivar also boasted
one of the best horse racing tracks on Crowley's Ridge. The
county site remained at Bolivar until the winter of 1856-57.
In the 1856 election, the citizens voted to move the county
site somewhere between township 9 and 10. Benjamin Harris,
Sr. donated land to have a new courthouse built and the site
was moved to the western slopes of Crowley's Ridge three miles
south of Bolivar. The new county town was christened Harrisburg
in his honor.
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A brick courthouse was built in there in 1858. This
courthouse was 50 feet square and two stories high.
The cost to build it was $8,800.00. The courthouse was
at the center of business and society. The space in
the courthouse was only needed part of the time for
county business. Unused rooms functioned at various
times as: a school, a church, real estate offices and
even newspapers were published in the courthouse.
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The interior of this brick courthouse burned in 1873 destroying
all county records.
A boarding house and church served as a temporary courthouse
for over a year until the structure was rebuilt by the same
contractor - using the same walls. This time a vault was built
to protect county records.
This courthouse was used until 1917 when it was totally destroyed
by another fire. This time only one record book was destroyed.
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The present courthouse was built on the same site in
1918 costing $200,000. It is one of the prettiest in
the state of Arkansas and is registered as an historic
landmark.
The courthouse building is constructed mainly of Bedford
stone, although the large columns on the east and west
entrances, as well as the other columns and accents,
are sandstone. The tower clock has four faces and the
tower-arches and brass trim accents the red tile roof.
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The Courthouse is constantly undergoing renovations to the
heating/air, electrical systems, roof, ect. to make it efficent
to use. Its alot of work, but it is well worth it to maintain
the beauty of the building.
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