|
Story Date: 3/20/2004 11:21:07 PM
Courthouse history discovered
By Stephen Hankins
http://www.jonesborosun.com/archivedstory.asp?ID=8602
A Jonesboro man got a little more than he bargained for when he and his
fiancee prepared to move into a family home.
Erin Johnson, 27, formerly of Cash, and his fiancee, Lisa Miguet, 25,
discovered a piece of history in a long-forgotten closet at the residence,
located at 1716 South Culberhouse -- a program that celebrated the April 3,
1935, dedication of the Craighead County Courthouse.
"I was standing on a chair and reached up to clear off a shelf in the closet
when I found the program under a shoe box of old tax statements," Johnson
told The Sun. "I found it about three weeks ago."
The home belonged to his late uncle, Drew Salmon, and his wife, Orene
Salmon, Johnson said. A computer technician with offices in the courthouse,
Johnson said his family was among the first to settle Cash, and added that
his great-grandfather, Houston Johnson, served as the Craighead County
sheriff when the courthouse was dedicated.
Faded, but still in what Johnson called "great shape," the program was
printed in those days on heavy stock by Sammons Brothers Printing and Supply
Co., 110 Huntington -- telephone 11 -- and featured a black-and-white photo
image of the courthouse on the front with the words, "Dedication,
commemorating the opening of Craighead County's New Courthouse, April 3,
1935, Jonesboro, Ark."
Stars or flowers and patterns that once were red, now faded by time to a
rosey-pink, are featured throughout the 4-page historic document.
The courthouse at 511 Main St. is the county's fifth, according to documents
found at the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library. It was included in
the National Register of Historical Places in ceremonies on Sept. 22, 1998,
and was constructed in the art deco style.
The county's first courthouse -- a 2-story frame structure that featured
county offices on the first floor and court facilities on the second -- was
built in 1859 on the same spot where today's courthouse is located but
burned in 1869. Angry residents attributed the blaze that claimed the
building to state militia quartering there the night before, documents
indicated.
The second courthouse was a rented, frame store building on the west side of
the square at Washington and Union, where a Masonic Hall once stood. It was
destroyed by fire in 1876, documents stated. This time, though, the blaze
was caused by an arsonist named Marion Sanders, who was found guilty of the
crime and sentenced to two years at the state penitentiary, documents
indicated.
Craighead's third courthouse was built in 1876 on the site where the second
one burned. It, too, went down in flames, according to library documents.
"Another building which was erected was also burned by a general fire which
destroyed eight buildings in 1878," the historic program stated. "In these
various fires all of the county records were destroyed, but since 1886 the
records have been preserved in a vault, and none of them have been lost
since March 28th, 1878."
A brick courthouse was completed in the summer of 1886 by Little Rock
contractor W.C. Clark, the program stated. "This building stood until 1934
when the present structure was started," the program indicated.
The back of Johnson's program featured a complete listing of the days'
officials -- County Judge Spurgeon Clark; County Clerk Robert Patrick;
County Treasurer A.E. Bobbitt; Tax Assessor Z.B. Ballew; Coroner W.C. Craig;
County Health Nurse Mrs. Ernestine Gibbs; Sheriff Houston Johnson; Circuit
Clerk L.E. Isom; County Agent R.S. Sullivant; County Physician Dr. E.J.
Horner; Home Demonstration Agent Edrie Speir; and Tax Collector Mode
Gregory.
"I remember when Mode Gregory used to pick up me and my brother," Erin
Johnson said. "He'd drive us around Cash, but we never knew he was the tax
collector in those days."
The program's interior pages offer a glimpse into the county's past.
Craighead's origins -- parts of Greene, Mississippi and Poinsett counties
became Craighead County -- the 1883 division into two districts, "one to be
known as Jonesboro, or Western District and one as the Lake City, or Eastern
District," the Depression-era, 1929 defeat by rural voters to erect a "New
courthouse through the flotation of a bond issue to be paid by a special
2-mill tax," all are included in the text.
"The newly erected courthouse was made possible by borrowing the money from
the Public Works Administration," the text indicated. "$90,000 in bonds were
sold at 4 percent, the last of which matures in 1969. The total cost was
$113,000, of which $103,026.99 went for actual construction and the balance
for general overhead."
Builders Manhatten Construction Co. erected the courthouse, and Jonesboro
architect Elmer A. Stuck "handled all plans for both the Lake City and
Jonesboro projects," the text stated. "The remodeling and improvements on
the Lake City Court House cost $11,500.00."
Johnson said he plans to have the historic program professionally framed. A
computer-scanned copy of the document may be found at the Craighead County
Jonesboro Public Library, 315 West Oak Ave., Jonesboro. |
