Booneville turned out to be another wonder of the WPA. What is they knew about making courthouses? Is it just that as they've gotten older their look has become more classic to us? Or what there an intentional choice that to do something that we just don't get any longer? It was built in 1928 … Continue reading 486. Booneville/Paris, Logan County (AR38) →

Ozark is another one of those Arkansas specific courthouses. Charleston, on the other hand, is handsome in red brick. I not only like both of them, but I think I am actually quite happy with them in general. Both are good looking and traditional as opposed to some places that have one really good one … Continue reading 485. Ozark/Charleston, Franklin County (AR37) →

I'm pretty sure this is the courthouse, Fort Smith withstanding. If it's not the courthouse, it's an old courthouse. For a while I suspected it was an old courthouse because it was only flying the US flag (and something else), not the Arkansas flag. It turned out there was a second flagpole with an Arkansas … Continue reading 484. Van Buren, Crawford County (AR36) →

The courthouse in Greenwood is OK. After seeing Waldron, it couldn't be worse. Fort Smith, though obviously newer, is nice. I don't dislike either of them. And, as we turn to the right in Fort Smith, we run across what has started to become my least favorite quote to see on any memorial ever! Monument … Continue reading 483. Greenwood/Fort Smith, Sebastian County (AR35) →

Ummm... I wish the architect of this courthouse had not taken a break from his (or her) lucrative career designing nursing homes. This hurt me on so many levels. You don't even know... Unless, of course, you've been reading this for a while, in which case, you probably have at least an inkling. I feel … Continue reading 482. Waldron, Scott County (AR34) →

And here I was, back in Arkansas, looking at this actual glorious wonder of the WPA. That said, not only do we have one of these back in Texas, I've seen at least one other, too. I didn't get the lovely little voice welcoming me to Arkansas. Thinking back, I hadn't gotten it when I … Continue reading 481. Mena, Polk County (AR33) →

All right, I like this courthouse. I know it's not extraordinary, but not every courthouse has to be. It's a little grander than I would have expected for the town, but then again the town may be a little bigger than I thought it would be. While I am loathe to include drug references because … Continue reading 480. Poteau, LeFlore County (OK74) →

Welcome to the frontier, folks!  At least that’s what this feels like here.  Of course, this actually was the frontier until the early 20th century (remember, Oklahoma didn’t become a state until 1907 [it’s crazy to think that when my grandfather was born, Oklahoma was not a state]).  Of course this was made by the WPA, … Continue reading 479. Wilburton, Latimer County (OK73) →

An elegant courthouse... I know I said I was tired of the entire red brick thing (and I actually still am), but it works here. I also found it interesting that there is a genealogical society next door to it that I'm guessing has easy access to the county archives to do research. That is … Continue reading 478. McAlester, Pittsburg County (OK72) →

This is like the white label generic version of courthouses. It's like someone decided to take an elementary school kit from the 30's or 40's (I assume they got the kit from Sears, but who knows?), threw it together and voila!, welcome to the seat of County government! I guess it's OK, but I'm not … Continue reading 477. Antlers, Pushmataha County (OK71) →