Yell County Courthouse - Dardanelle, Arkansas
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member iconions
N 35° 13.443 W 093° 09.366
15S E 485794 N 3897900
This two-story Classical Revival red brick building is located at 209 Union Street in Dardanelle, Ar.
Waymark Code: WMKHRE
Location: Arkansas, United States
Date Posted: 04/18/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member ddtfamily
Views: 3

Yell County was created December 5, 1840, from parts of Pope and Scott counties and was named for Archibald Yell, second Governor of the State of Arkansas. The landscape of the county is rolling farmlands, forested ridges, and isolated mountains and lakes with rugged terrain in the south. The economic base of Yell County is well balanced. Leading industries are connected with production of poultry, hogs, and beef cattle with some small manufacturing. Tourism and recreation activities are very popular in an area full of lakes. The Arkansas River, Lake Dardanelle, Nimrod Lake, Blue Mountain Lake and Kingfisher Lake are poplar with the professional angler as well as the local fisherman. Mount Nebo State Park rises 1,800 feet above the mountain valleys and has cabins, campsites, picnic sites, tennis courts, swimming pool, and hiking trails. Mount Magazine State Park offers camping and picnicking. Petit Jean Mountain and Wildlife Management Area offer hunting and beautiful scenery. The county has dual seats, Danville and Dardanelle. The courthouse at Dardanelle is located on one of the earliest military roads in Arkansas, one named in honor of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy by act of the General Assembly of 1925. On the east lawn, the statue of a Confederate soldier with a boyish face stands as a memorial to Yell County Confederate veterans.

- Yell County Website



Constructed in 1914, the Yell County Courthouse is a T-shaped, two story, brick and concrete masonry public institutional building designed in the Classical Revival style of architecture. The structure is supported by a continuous concrete foundation and topped with a gabled roof which bisects an octagonal, sectional dome. On top of the dome is a domed cupola which is supported by six small Doric columns with a central flag pole extending through the cupola dome.

The roof is surrounded by a tall parapet made of stucco-covered brick adorned with pilasters that rise along the full height of the elevations. The parapet rests atop a full entablature which consists of a narrow architrave, a wide frieze board and a narrow cornice. The overall appearance of the structure is a symmetrical facade which is framed by corner pilasters. The southern elevation has a double-leaf entry with the fenestration of the facade symmetrical on both the first and second story. Centered on the southern elevation is a central pedimented portico. The pediment features an oculus window and a wide frieze board. The entire pediment is supported by four large Doric columns. Another feature of the portico is a narrow, second story, cantilevered balcony above the double leaf front entrance. Pilasters are found on each corner of the structure as well as symmetrical placement of pilasters on the eastern, southern, and western elevations.

All the windows of the structure have white concrete lintels and sills. The lintels of the second story windows are incorporated into the entablature. The windows of the structure are double-hung with a two-over-one sash arrangement. Both the southern and western elevations have transom windows over a double-leaf entrance. The eastern elevation does not have a transom over the door but has a transom effect with the placement of two small windows over the large central windows which serve to illuminate an interior stairwell. Both the eastern and western elevations have modern gabled porches extending from double-leaf entrances.

HISTORY of CONSTRUCTION

County Judge J.N. George along with Commissioners A.N. Falls and T.E. Wilson engaged Frank W. Gibb of Little Rock as the architect for the new courthouse and the L.R. Wight and Company of Dallas, Texas as the builders. Although trained as an engineer at the Missouri School of Mines at Rolla, Mo., Gibb returned to Little Rock in 1882 for a career as a Civil and Mining Engineer. It seems that not long after his return to Little Rock is when he began to do some work as an architect for his father Edward Gibb and his real estate interests. Gibb is not widely known as an architect but some of his works are more familiar. He is credited with designing the Arkansas Building at the St. Louis World's Fair, the Buckstaff Baths in Hot Springs, the First United Methodist Church at Eighth and Center in Little Rock, the old Little Rock High School, the Logan Roots Memorial Hospital, and buildings at the Arkansas State Lunatic Asylum. He is also known for designing courthouses and jails around the state in Ashley, Bradley, Galhoun, Chicot, Cleburne, Conway, Crawford, Cross, Dallas, Franklin, Howard, Jefferson, Lafayette, Miller, Phillips, and Saline counties as well as Yell. In his obituary of November 5, 1932, Gibb is credited with work on 60 courthouses in Arkansas. One reason that most of his work is not well known is that the contents of his office on the second floor of the Gazette building -- including drawings, specifications, sketches, etc. -- were destroyed by his family soon after his death. None of his original drawings are known to exist.

- National Register Application

Year Built: 1914

Current Use of Building: Courthouse

Level of Courts: County

Architect: Frank W. Gibb

Dates this building was used to house judicial proceedings: 1914 - present

Physical Address:
209 Union Street
Dardanelle, Arkansas 72834


Hours:
Monday-Friday 9-4


Related Website: [Web Link]

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