Craighead County, AR, (History), named in honor of State Senator Thomas B. Craighead, is located in northeast Arkansas, was created February 19, 1859. It is located on Crowley's Ridge and borders the Mississippi delta. Crowley's Ridge was formed by the Mississippi and Illinois rivers passing on either side of it thousands of years ago. Parent Counties Greene, Mississippi, Poinsett-County Seat(s): Jonesboro and Lake City- Jonesborough named in honor of Senator William A. Jones. The original Craighead County Courthouse was a two-story frame building. This building was destroyed by fire on February 14, 1869. A building just west of Court Square was used until 1876. Craighead County moved its records back across Union Street to a new frame courthouse. Then, two years later, another fire destroyed the courthouse, its records and eight other businesses in downtown Jonesboro. Due to these fires, Craighead County records are only continuous back to March 28, 1878. In 1886 a new Courthouse was completed. This building stood until 1934 and was torn down to make room for the present main portion of the Courthouse. The Craighead County Courthouse, of Art Deco construction, was entered on the National Register on September 11, 1998. On March 6, 1883, Act LXI of 1883 was signedinto law creating the “Eastern District of Craighead County. The Act provided for the establishment of a Courthouse at Lake City and also provided that the Sheriff or his deputy and the Clerk or his deputy would reside in the town of Lake City. (Apparently the original courthouse in Lake City was torn down in 1999)
The above picture, donated by Charles Ed Mattix, is of the courthouse
in Jonesboro that was erected in 1885 and torn down in 1933
The above picture, donated by Charles Ed Mattix, is of the courthouse in Jonesboro about 1940