Poinsett County
Courthouse

401 Market St.
Harrisburg, AR 72432
Phone # 870-578-4410

Poinsett County, the thirty-ninth county created, was formed February 28, 1838, out of territory taken from the counties of Greene and St. Francis, and was named after Joel R. Poinsett of South Carolina, Secretary of War under President VanBuren. The county seat was located at a place called Bolivar, where it remained until the winter of 1856-57.

In 1856, Benjamin Harris, Sr. donated land to have a new courthouse built and the town of Harrisburg was formed. A brick courthouse was built there in 1858 costing $8,800.00. This brick courthouse partially burned in 1872 destroying all county records. The structure was rebuilt - this time adding a vault - using the same walls and used until 1917 when it was totally destroyed by another fire. This time only one record book was destroyed.

The present courthouse was built in 1918 costing $200,000. It is one of the prettiest in the state of Arkansas. This courthouse is recently undergoing renovations to the heating and air conditioning and electrical systems. The courtroom has also been renovated to repair it and return it to its original grandeur.

Poinsett is divided into ten civil townships: Bolivar, Dobson, Greenfield, Greenwood, Little River, Owen, Scott, Tyronza, West Prairie, and Willis.

Photograph and Information Contributed by Tina Price

Return to Poinsett County

The first courthouse was built at Bolivar in 1838, the same year that Poinsett County was formed. In 1856, the county seat was moved to Harrisburg. The building in the picture was constructed in 1859. In 1873, a fire destroyed records housed in the county clerk's office, and again, a fire totally destroyed the courthouse in 1917