# Baxter County Courthouse > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Baxter_County_Courthouse > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Baxter_County_Courthouse.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_County_Courthouse > Source revision: 1302199071 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Building in Arkansas, US}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Baxter County Courthouse | image = Baxter County Courthouse.jpg | caption = | location = Courthouse Square, [Mountain Home, Arkansas](/source/Mountain_Home%2C_Arkansas) | coordinates = {{coord|36|20|7|N|92|23|5|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Arkansas#USA | mapframe = yes | mapframe-marker = building | mapframe-zoom = 12 | mapframe-caption = Interactive map showing the location of Baxter County Courthouse | map_caption = Location in [Arkansas](/source/Arkansas)##Location in United States | built = 1941 | architect = T. Ewing Shelton | builder = Works Progress Administration | architecture = [Art Moderne](/source/Streamline_Moderne) | added = May 26, 1995 | area = less than one acre | refnum = 95000658{{NRISref|version=2010a}} | nrhp_type2 = cp | nocat = yes | designated_nrhp_type2 = June 15, 2010 | partof = [Mountain Home Commercial Historic District](/source/Mountain_Home_Commercial_Historic_District) | partof_refnum = 10000348 }} The '''Baxter County Courthouse''' is a [courthouse](/source/courthouse) in [Mountain Home, Arkansas](/source/Mountain_Home%2C_Arkansas), United States, the [county seat](/source/county_seat) of [Baxter County](/source/Baxter_County%2C_Arkansas), built in 1941. It was listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) in 1995. The building replaced another courthouse on the same site which was deemed unsafe in 1939. ==History== {{See also|Baxter County, Arkansas}} Baxter County was established on March 24, 1873 by the [Arkansas General Assembly](/source/Arkansas_General_Assembly) from parts of four neighboring counties. The county seat was established at [Mountain Home](/source/Mountain_Home%2C_Arkansas), which was a community atop a plateau between the [North Fork River](/source/North_Fork_River_(Missouri%E2%80%93Arkansas)) and [White River](/source/White_River_(Arkansas)). County government initially inhabited the [Jacob Wolf House](/source/Jacob_Wolf_House) in [Norfork](/source/Norfork%2C_Arkansas). Today, the structure is the oldest standing county courthouse in Arkansas, built in 1811.{{cite book | last1 = Gill | first1 = John Purifoy | last2 = Gill | first2 = Marjem Jackson | year = 1980 | title = On the Courthouse Square in Arkansas | lccn = 80-65253 }} ===Building the courthouse=== County Judge R. M. Ruthven declared the county courthouse to be unsafe and too small for county needs in 1939. Ruthven was instrumental in the construction of the [Cotter Bridge](/source/Cotter_Bridge) in Baxter County which opened the area to commerce in 1928. The courthouse was expanded from two to three stories as a method to keep the county seat in Mountain Home in response to a 1912 state law which kept county seats from moving out of three story buildings. Ruthven acquired the services of T. Ewing Shelton, an [architect](/source/architect) from [Fayetteville, Arkansas](/source/Fayetteville%2C_Arkansas) to draft plans for a new courthouse. The plans were received and approved by voters, despite protests by [Gassville](/source/Gassville%2C_Arkansas) and [Cotter](/source/Cotter%2C_Arkansas) residents who wanted the county seat relocated to their cities with greater populations. During the 1940s, Baxter County was very depressed economically and the [Works Progress Administration](/source/Works_Progress_Administration) (WPA) was active in the county. Mountain Home was a shrinking community with little industry and few paved roads. As a county, Baxter County saw many farmers abandon their farms and move away during the 1940s. Construction began on the [Norfork Dam](/source/Norfork_Dam) in 1941 and the [Bull Shoals Dam](/source/Bull_Shoals_Dam) in 1947. The courthouse project received state approval as a WPA project the following year and construction began after razing the old courthouse in August 1941. ==Opening== The new building was unveiled for county courthouse functions in August 1943. It contained all county offices, a courtroom, office space to be rented to lawyers, and the county library. Today many offices have left the courthouse. ==See also== * {{Portal-inline|United States}} * {{Portal-inline|National Register of Historic Places}} * [Cotter Bridge](/source/Cotter_Bridge) * [List of county courthouses in Arkansas](/source/List_of_county_courthouses_in_Arkansas) * [National Register of Historic Places listings in Baxter County, Arkansas](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Baxter_County%2C_Arkansas) ==References== {{reflist}} {{commons category|Baxter County Courthouse}} {{National Register of Historic Places}} Category:Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Category:County courthouses in Arkansas Category:Government buildings completed in 1941 Category:Streamline Moderne architecture in the United States Category:National Register of Historic Places in Baxter County, Arkansas Category:Historic district contributing properties in Arkansas Category:Mountain Home, Arkansas Category:1941 establishments in Arkansas --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Baxter County Courthouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_County_Courthouse) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_County_Courthouse?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.