Hempstead County Courthouse (1818-1824)

This was the site of the first courthouse for Hempstead County. Hempstead County was founded on December 15, 1818. The courthouse was established in the log home of John English located along the Southwest Trail in the community of Marlbrook, just south of the modern community of Blevins, Arkansas.

On December 15, 1818, Hempstead County was formed as part of Missouri Territory. Later on March 2, 1819 it became part of Arkansas Territory. Hempstead County was one of the original five counties that formed Arkansas Territory. It stretched as far east as modern day Union County and then went all the way west to the current into portion of southeast Oklahoma and northeast Texas.

The county seat of Hempstead County was established at the log home of John English that was situated along Marlbrook Creek. On June 28, 1819, twenty-five men met at his home to organize a court of common pleas for the county of Hempstead. The home of John English was situated along the main road, the Southwest Trail, that went directly through the community of Marlbrook.

James M. Stuart was elected the first County Clerk of Hempstead County and Alexander Walker as Sheriff. It was at this location that the first grand jury of the county was formed and various litigations between early settlers to the area were settled. Road commissions were also formed to lay out road paths in the county to connect the county seat to other towns, such as Fulton on the Red River.

By 1824 the county seat was moved seven miles southwest down the Southwest Trail to the community of Washington to the tavern of Elijah Stuart.

Medearis, Mary. Washington, Arkansas : History on the Southwest Trail. Hope, Arkansas. Copies + Office Solutions, 1984.

Medearis, Mary. Earliest Hempstead County Court Sites. Journal of the Hempstead County Historical Society, ser. Winter 1985, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 1 - 8.