2024-11-24 Memorial Service Trip Day 3 DSC_5808 (Polk County Courthouse)
The area now known as the State of Arkansas was acquired by the US in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Arkansas Territory (Territory of Arkansaw) was formed in 1819, and was admitted into the union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836.
Originally part of Sevier County, Polk County was first settled by whites around 1830. In November of 1844, the area was separated from Sevier County, and named for President James K. Polk. The first county seat was in the town of Dallas, which was named for Polk’s Vice President, George Dallas.
In 1896, the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (now the Kansas City Southern Railroad), founded by Arthur E. Stillwell, platted out a townsite named for Folmina Margaretha Janssen-De Goeijen, called Mena, who was the wife of Jan de Goeigen, a wealthy Dutch merchant who helped finance the railroad. The railroad arrived in Mena on August 19, 1896, and Mena was incorporated on September 18, 1896. In June of 1898, a special election was held, and it was voted to move the county seat from Dallas to Mena.
The 1939 Art Deco style building in the center of Mena is the county’s fourth courthouse. It was constructed by the Works Progress Administration, using local labor. The first two courthouses were in the then county seat of Dallas. The first was built in 1844, and burned down. The second was built in 1869, and burned down in 1883. The first courthouse in Mena was built in 1898 (I don’t know what happened to that one).
2024-11-24 Memorial Service Trip Day 3 DSC_5808 (Polk County Courthouse)
The area now known as the State of Arkansas was acquired by the US in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Arkansas Territory (Territory of Arkansaw) was formed in 1819, and was admitted into the union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836.
Originally part of Sevier County, Polk County was first settled by whites around 1830. In November of 1844, the area was separated from Sevier County, and named for President James K. Polk. The first county seat was in the town of Dallas, which was named for Polk’s Vice President, George Dallas.
In 1896, the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (now the Kansas City Southern Railroad), founded by Arthur E. Stillwell, platted out a townsite named for Folmina Margaretha Janssen-De Goeijen, called Mena, who was the wife of Jan de Goeigen, a wealthy Dutch merchant who helped finance the railroad. The railroad arrived in Mena on August 19, 1896, and Mena was incorporated on September 18, 1896. In June of 1898, a special election was held, and it was voted to move the county seat from Dallas to Mena.
The 1939 Art Deco style building in the center of Mena is the county’s fourth courthouse. It was constructed by the Works Progress Administration, using local labor. The first two courthouses were in the then county seat of Dallas. The first was built in 1844, and burned down. The second was built in 1869, and burned down in 1883. The first courthouse in Mena was built in 1898 (I don’t know what happened to that one).