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The Calhoun County Courthouse was built in 1910.
A symbol of pride
Calhoun County Courthouse was ambitious endeavor for small community
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Story by Mark Christ and Photography by Holly Hope Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
hough Calhoun County is one of the least populous of Arkansas’s 75 counties, it is the home to one of the state’s most impressive courthouses. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) has worked with the county since 1989 to preserve the stately structure through its County Courthouse Restoration Grant program, funded through Real Estate Transfer Tax proceeds administered by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council. Calhoun County was created in 1850 from parts of Dallas and Ouachita counties, and its seat was located on part of Nathaniel Hunt’s farm, which he donated for that purpose. The new town was named for Col. John R. Hampton, a state senator from Union County. The first court proceedings were held on May 27, 1851, at the home of James Riggs about three miles north of Hampton, but they were soon moved to a temporary facility in 30
town until a new log courthouse could be built. It was completed in 1851 and Hampton incorporated on January 27, 1853. As the timber industry in the area thrived and Hampton grew into a bustling business center, county officials voted in 1859 to appropriate $4,000 for a two-story brick courthouse to be constructed on the town square in Hampton. The resulting building was almost devoid of exterior detail, but it held county offices on the first floor and a courtroom on the second. The small, rural county raised five companies for the Confederate army when the Civil War broke out in 1861, depleting the area of able-bodied men. When the war ended four years later, no businesses remained in Hampton. The town suffered further as a series of fires beginning in 1864 ravaged its buildings. The people of Calhoun County were resilient, however, and Hampton reincorporated in 1871. COUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2015
