Baxter County Courthouse: Difference between revisions

	Baxter County Courthouse
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Courthouse Square, Mountain Home, Arkansas
Area	less than one acre
Built	1941
Built by	Works Progress Administration
Architect	T. Ewing Shelton
Architectural style	Art Moderne
NRHP reference No.	95000658
Added to NRHP	May 26, 1995

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The Baxter County Courthouse is a courthouse in Mountain Home, Arkansas, United States, the county seat of Baxter County, built in 1941. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.^[1] The building replaced another courthouse on the same site which was deemed unsafe in 1939.

History

Baxter County was established on March 24, 1873 by the Arkansas General Assembly from parts of four neighboring counties. The county seat was established at Mountain Home, which was a community atop a plateau between the North Fork River and White River. County government initially inhabited the Jacob Wolf House in Norfork. Today, the structure is the oldest standing county courthouse in Arkansas, built in 1811.^[2]

Building the courthouse

County Judge R. M. Ruthven declared the county courthouse to be unsafe and too small for county needs in 1939. Ruthven was instrumental in the construction of the Cotter Bridge in Baxter County which opened the area to commerce in 1928. The courthouse was expanded from two to three stories as a method to keep the county seat in Mountain Home in response to a 1912 state law which kept county seats from moving out of three story buildings.^[2] Ruthven acquired the services of T. Ewing Shelton, an architect from Fayetteville, Arkansas to draft plans for a new courthouse. The plans were received and approved by voters, despite protests by Gassville and Cotter residents who wanted the county seat relocated to their cities with greater populations.

During the 1940s, Baxter County was very depressed economically and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was active in the county. Mountain Home was a shrinking community with little industry and few paved roads. As a county, Baxter County saw many farmers abandon their farms and move away during the 1940s. Construction began on the Norfork Dam in 1941 and the Bull Shoals Dam in 1947. The courthouse project received state approval as a WPA project the following year and construction began after razing the old courthouse in August 1941.

Opening

The new building was unveiled for county courthouse functions in August 1943. It contained all county offices, a courtroom, office space to be rented to lawyers, and the county library. Today many offices have left the courthouse.

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ ^a ^b Gill, John Purifoy; Gill, Marjem Jackson (1980). On the Courthouse Square in Arkansas. LCCN 80-65253.

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[otcsia-2] Gill, John Purifoy; Gill, Marjem Jackson (1980). On the Courthouse Square in Arkansas. LCCN 80-65253.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{NRIS-only|date=November 2013}}
 {{Infobox NRHP
   | name = Baxter County Courthouse
   | image = Baxter County Arkansas Courthouse.JPG
-  | caption = Baxter County Courthouse, 2007
+  | caption =
   | location= Courthouse Square, [[Mountain Home, Arkansas]]
   | lat_degrees = 36
@@ Line 18: / Line 17: @@
   | architect = T. Ewing Shelton
   | builder = Works Progress Administration
-  | architecture = Plain Traditional
+  | architecture = [[Streamline Moderne|Art Moderne]]
   | added = May 26, 1995
   | area = less than one acre
@@ Line 27: / Line 26: @@
 ==History==
+{{See also|Baxter County, Arkansas}}
-Baxter County was established on March 24, 1873 by the [[Arkansas General Assembly]] from parts of four neighboring counties. The county seat was established at [[Mountain Home, Arkansas|Mountain Home]], which was a community atop a plateau between the [[North Fork River (Missouri–Arkansas)|North Fork River]] and [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]].
+Baxter County was established on March 24, 1873 by the [[Arkansas General Assembly]] from parts of four neighboring counties. The county seat was established at [[Mountain Home, Arkansas|Mountain Home]], which was a community atop a plateau between the [[North Fork River (Missouri–Arkansas)|North Fork River]] and [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]]. County government initially inhabited the [[Jacob Wolf House]] in [[Norfork, Arkansas|Norfork]]. Today, the structure is the oldest standing county courthouse in Arkansas, built in 1811.<ref  name="otcsia" >{{cite book | last1 = Gill | first1 = John Purifoy | last2 = Gill | first2 = Marjem Jackson | year = 1980 | title = On the Courthouse Square in Arkansas | lccn = 80-65253 }}</ref>
-==Building the courthouse==
+===Building the courthouse===
-County Judge R. M. Ruthven declared the county courthouse to be unsafe and too small for county needs in 1939. Ruthven was instrumental in the construction of the [[Cotter Bridge]] in Baxter County which opened the area to commerce in 1928. The courthouse was expanded from two to three stories as a method to keep the county seat in Mountain Home in response to a 1912 state law which kept county seats from moving out of three story buildings. Ruthven acquired the services of T. Ewing Shelton, an [[architect]] from [[Fayetteville, Arkansas]] to draft plans for a new courthouse. The plans were received and approved by voters, despite protests by [[Gassville, Arkansas|Gassville]] and [[Cotter, Arkansas|Cotter]] residents who wanted the county seat relocated to their cities with greater populations.
+County Judge R. M. Ruthven declared the county courthouse to be unsafe and too small for county needs in 1939. Ruthven was instrumental in the construction of the [[Cotter Bridge]] in Baxter County which opened the area to commerce in 1928. The courthouse was expanded from two to three stories as a method to keep the county seat in Mountain Home in response to a 1912 state law which kept county seats from moving out of three story buildings.<ref name="otcsia" /> Ruthven acquired the services of T. Ewing Shelton, an [[architect]] from [[Fayetteville, Arkansas]] to draft plans for a new courthouse. The plans were received and approved by voters, despite protests by [[Gassville, Arkansas|Gassville]] and [[Cotter, Arkansas|Cotter]] residents who wanted the county seat relocated to their cities with greater populations.
-During the 1940s, Baxter County was very depressed economically and the [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA) was active in the county. Mountain Home was a shrinking community with little industry and few paved roads. As a county, Baxter County saw many farmers abandon their farms and move away during thr 1940s. Construction began on the [[Norfork Dam]] in 1941 and the [[Bull Shoals Dam]] in 1947. The courthouse project received state approval as a WPA project the following year and construction began after razing the old courthouse in August 1941.
+During the 1940s, Baxter County was very depressed economically and the [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA) was active in the county. Mountain Home was a shrinking community with little industry and few paved roads. As a county, Baxter County saw many farmers abandon their farms and move away during the 1940s. Construction began on the [[Norfork Dam]] in 1941 and the [[Bull Shoals Dam]] in 1947. The courthouse project received state approval as a WPA project the following year and construction began after razing the old courthouse in August 1941.
 ==Opening==
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 ==See also==
+* {{Portal-inline|Arkansas}}
+* {{Portal-inline|NRHP}}
 * [[Cotter Bridge]]
+* [[List of county courthouses in Arkansas]]
 * [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Baxter County, Arkansas]]
@@ Line 51: / Line 54: @@
 [[Category:County courthouses in Arkansas]]
 [[Category:Government buildings completed in 1941]]
+[[Category:Moderne architecture in Arkansas]]

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