To spot the Craighead County Courthouse, simply look ahead for a bold red-brick building with limestone trim, dramatic Art Deco angles, and a statue framed by a shiny arch out front on the corner of Main Street.
Now, as you stand beneath that sky of Arkansas blue and face those towering bricks, let me take you back to 1934. Picture workers bustling and bricks being stacked, piecing together what would become the most dazzling Art Deco structure in Jonesboro. This two-story courthouse towers with a classic stepped look, its limestone trim fluting up the sides like frozen waterfalls. The grand entrance sits tucked in a recess, watched over by panels dressed up in those same elegant flutes. Believe it or not, this is courthouse number five for Craighead County-turns out, they don’t make them like they used to (or maybe they just needed more space for paperwork). Out front, look for the statue of a doughboy, charging “over the top.” Folks have sometimes mistaken this World War I memorial for someone else’s design-hey, even statues can have an identity crisis! In 1998, the courthouse made it onto the National Register of Historic Places, earning bragging rights that remain to this day. Across decades, these walls have seen tears, laughter, protests, and handshakes, the heartbeat of Jonesboro’s wild stories, all sheltering under this proud Art Deco crown.
