649. Piggott/Corning, Clay County (AR67)

So, did the county get a two-for-one special on courthouses?  If so, they got screwed.  They didn’t get a pair of aces.  They got a pair of twos.  I mean, I get that they must have been built in the 1970s or possibly the 1960s, but it baffles me that there was a time that anyone would have looked at either of these at any point and thought to themselves, “This is a cool building, and I want it to represent my county.”  To torture the poker metaphor a little bit more, if you or your county ever find yourself in a similar situation, just fold.  You’ll thank yourself later.

I talk a lot about WPA courthouses, but I’m not 100% sure I’ve ever been down a WPA road. I took a side road on the way to Piggott that led to the namesake of this cache, the proverbial big red barn. Didn’t have to go to the barn, though. The caretaker of the cache was right outside the fence. It’s a cache set up by some German cachers to celebrate their friendships both here and abroad. I don’t usually consider myself a sentimental person (all evidence to the contrary), but my heart of stone couldn’t help but be moved. Over the last year and a half, many of us haven’t had the ability to see a lot of people we care about, so I guess I was especially touched by the sentiment. Being the giant softie that I am, I gave it one of my stingily hoarded favorite points. With a little longing in my heart, I set off into both towns (where I would be ultimately disappointed by architecture) and then drove on, intent on reaching…