Object description

The Hempstead County Courthouse is located at the northwest corner of 5th and Washington Streets in Hope, the county seat of Hempstead County, Arkansas. The five story masonry structure was designed by the Little Rock firm of McAninch and Anderson, and built in 1939 with funding from the Public Works Administration, a depression-era federal jobs program. It is Hope's finest example of Art Deco architecture. Its entry is framed by a series of molded concrete panels, separated by inverted chevrons. The panels depict a variety of industries and professions, including construction, mining, medicine, defense, electricity, farming, and brickmaking. Chevron paneling is repeated in the cornice. The interior of the building is virtually unaltered, except for two courtrooms on the upper floors, which required complete renovation following a lightning-induced fire in 1979. The 1939 building has had a large jail added, but this was done in a sympathetic manner to the original's design.