Prairie County Courthouse

Prairie County has had more courthouses than most because the White River kept getting in the way. Brownsville was the first seat in 1846, DeValls Bluff held it from 1868 and Des Arc from 1875. In 1885, with river floods making it hard for southern residents to pay taxes on time, the county was split into northern and southern districts, each with its own courthouse. The Des Arc building burned in 1911 but its records were saved, and the present one was built in 1913. In 1860 the county counted 2,839 enslaved people alongside 6,015 white residents.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Louisiana Purchase State Park — 34 mi
  A National Historic Landmark in a headwater swamp where Phillips, Lee and Monroe counties meet, marking the initial point of every survey of the Louisiana Purchase lands.

More markers nearby

• The Memphis & Little Rock Railroad — 13 mi
• Memphis & Little Rock Railroad — 13 mi
• DeValls Bluff in the Civil War — 14 mi
• Action at Cotton Plant — 14 mi