March 25, 2011

Governor Harris Flanagin chose the 1836 Hempstead County Courthouse, located in Washington, to serve as the Confederate state capitol after the fall of Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Union forces in 1863. After the war, the building was returned to its former use as the seat of county government. When a new county courthouse was completed in 1874, the old 1836 building served as the town’s school until 1914. Saved from demolition in 1929, the restored structure is a part of the Historic Washington State Park.