Montgomery County County Seat

The county seat has worn three names. It began as Montgomery, became Salem in July 1850 when the county court renamed it, and went back to Mount Ida that October. The name came from the post office Granville Whittington opened on June 28, 1842, which he named for a hill near his former home in Massachusetts. A log building held court before the County House of 1846 went up on the present square. A frame courthouse of about 1873 gave way in 1923 to a native stone building by architect Clyde Ferrel, listed on the National Register in 1976.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Ouachita State Park — 26 mi
  The state park on Arkansas's largest lake, built around a spring a homesteader called healing in 1875.

More markers nearby

• Montgomery County in the Civil War — steps away
• The Town of Caddo Gap — 11 mi
• The Narrows on Caddo River — 11 mi
• De Soto At Caddo Gap — 11 mi