Pemiscot County - American Courthouses

Pemiscot County is named for the Native American word meaning “liquid mud”.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – New Madrid County

E – Lake County, Tennessee and Dyer County, Tennessee

S – Mississippi County, Arkansas

W – Dunklin County

Created: February 19, 1851

County Seat:

Gayoso 1851 – 1899

Caruthersville 1899 – present

County Courthouse – Caruthersville

Location: 610 Ward Avenue / West 7th Street

Built: 1924 – 1925

Style: Classical Revival and Federalist

Architect: Henry H Hohenschild

Contractor: McCarthy Construction Company

Description: The building faces southeast and is a three story red colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Caruthersville. The southeast front has a projecting central section with stone framed entrance and two large columns rising from the second story to the top of the third story with a wide header above. The roof line is flat. In the interior stairs at the entrance ascend to the third story. The County Circuit Court courtroom is located along the southeast side of the third story. The small County Circuit Court courtroom is located along the southeast side of the second story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 34th Judicial Circuit. The building was renovated in 1974 and 1975. The architect was Henry Creighton and the contractor was Bien Construction of Dexter.

See: The architect, Henry H Hohenschild, also designed courthouses in Barry County, Christian County, Osage County, Pike County, Pulaski County, Scott County and Washington County.

See: The courthouse is similar to the courthouse in Scott County.

County Justice Center – Caruthersville

Location: 800 Ward Avenue / West 8th Street

Built: 2001 – 2002

Style: Modern

Architect: Lawrence Goldberg Architects Group of St Joseph

Contractor: Brown Construction Company Inc. of Dexter

Description: The building faces southeast and is a one story buff colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Caruthersville to the southwest of the courthouse. There is a recessed central entrance framed with red colored brick and concrete. Horizontal red colored brick bands run across the building The roof line is flat. In the interior, the County Circuit Court courtroom is located in the center. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 34th Judicial Circuit. The jail is located on the north side. The building was named as the Thomas D Greenwell Justice Center.

See: The 34th Judicial District includes New Madrid County

History: The county was created in 1851 and Gayoso was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a small frame structure built in Gayoso in 1854. The second courthouse was built in 1873 at a cost of $750. The courthouse burned on December 2, 1882. The third courthouse was a two story frame structure built by Major George W Carleton in 1883 at a cost of $4000. In 1899 the county seat was moved to Caruthersville. The fourth courthouse was a two story square white colored frame structure built by Charles B Faris in 1899. The fifth and present courthouse was constructed at a cost of $114,000. The County Justice Center was constructed in 2001 to 2002.