Primary Sources: Historical Sources (part 1)

Flames rage from every courthouse window to make a fiery backdrop for the statue of a Confederate soldier erected in honor of the South's heroic spy, David Owen Dodd.

The courthouse as it looked in November 1929.

Like many other cities in America-- or, for that matter, all over the world-- Pine Bluff grew up around the seat of government, the county courthouse.

Main Street from 3rd Avenue north in 1886 was a muddy thoroughfare with mule-drawn streetcar tracks in the center. Far in the distance is a shot of the courthouse, which faces south down Main Street.

As in most pictures of the city in those days, two one-horse cotton-hauling carts are visible.

This is a picture of a marker that was erected by the Arkansas Centennial Commission in 1936 as part of the 100th anniversary of Arkansas' admission to the U.S. The reference to the county court being held at Antione Barraque's home was incorrect in two respects: first, the court was never held at Barraque's (although the county seat was located there for a short time in 1832); second, the Barraque home was on the north side of the river.

This marker, one of the first attempts to record the history of the county, is located on the east side of the present courthouse on Barraque Street.

This sketch of the 1840 courthouse was made by Judge Joseph W. Bocage according to Goodspeed's Biographical Memoirs of Central Arkansas. The specifications of the forty-foot-square building said the octagonal cupola was to be painted black, window shutters green, and all other trim white. Offices for the Sheriff, County Judge, County Probate Clerk, and Treasurer were on the first floor, and the second story was a courtroom. Ewing H. Roane, whose signature appears on the bottom, was the clerk at the time the courthouse was built.

This picture, taken about 1895, shows the County Exposition Building in the rear of the courthouse. The small building on the west side of the courthouse was designed Thomas A. Harding, a Little Rock architect who drew the plans for the Merchants & Planters Bank building; and was built by D.E. Bass.

The 1840 courthouse, the first brick structure in Pine Bluff.

The Portis House, located at 214 East 2nd Avenue, was razed in the 1960s, and the P.K. Miller Funeral Home constructed in the lot.

It's October 1902, and the cotton grown in some of the numerous fields around Pine Bluff has been ginned and baled for shipment to many of the nation's textile mills.

The Pine Bluff Cotton Oil Company was organized in July 1897 by J.R. Fordyce and W.H. Wright of St. Louis, with three local men, W.H. Langford, J.W. Corcoran, and J.B. Trulock. The plant was built on five acres of land between the Cotton Belt and Missouri Pacific railroads east of Michigan Street.

The Consumers Cottonseed Oil Company of Chicago, Illinois, bought the mill in April 1902.

This picture was taken by R.E. Hinchey, a Cotton Belt photographer, around 1897.

For many years, cotton was king in Pine Bluff. Scenes like this could be found for miles around, pleasing to sight and sound. Brisk autumn breezes and the humming of gins day and night roused those wearied by the summer heat; people were busier and pocketbooks got fatter.

As seen from the air in the 1970's, the Pine Bluff Civic Center, bordered on the north by East 8th Avenue, includes the Pine Bluff Public Library on the building's east side.

Marion Dewoody (Pettigrew) was the driving force behind the establishment of a public library in Pine Bluff.

This building, on the northeast corner of West 5th Avenue and Chestnut Street, was bought on December 26, 1917, from D.B. Niven, and housed the first Pine Bluff public library. The library moved during the first week of January 1918. This building was condemned in April 1930, and a new building was constructed on the site.

Charles L. Thompson was a prospering architect. He was mature before his years.

In 1909, Governor George Donaghey appointed Thompson to chair the commission to oversee the completion of the Arkansas State Capitol.

The DuBocage home, built in 1886 at 1114 West 4th Avenue, was kept in the family until it was deeded by the Judge's granddaughter, Mrs. H.A. Knorr, to the Pine Bluff Optimist Club in 1966. The home, which retained its original appearance, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Built in 1886, DuBocage, the home of early Pine Bluff settler Judge Joseph W. Bocage, managed to survive all the hazards of the early years, such as fires and tornadoes, to stand today as a living relic of Pine Bluff's past.

Looking north on Main Street in the early 1900s.

A bird's-eye view of Pine Bluff (February 17, 1941).

This 1838 Arkansas map shows the original boundaries of Jefferson County at the time it was formed. The boxed-in area is the Pine Bluff settlement.

A copy of the Pine Bluff section from the WPA Tour Guide of 1930s Arkansas.

The Points of Interest section for Pine Bluff from the WPA Tour Guide for 1930s Arkansas.

Jefferson County Courthouse

Flames rage from every courthouse window to make a fiery backdrop for the statue of a Confederate soldier erected in honor of the South's heroic spy, David Owen Dodd.

PRIMARY SOURCES Set 1: Historical Sources, Part 1

PRIMARY SOURCES
Set 1: Historical Sources, Part 1