The building which became the Confederate Arkansas State Capitol after the capture of Little Rock by Union forces in Sept. 1863, is a two-story wood frame structure with brick foundation walls and piers that was erected in 1836 to serve as the Hempstead County Courthouse. The town of Washington bought the building in 1875 and used it as a schoolhouse until 1914. After 1914, it served as a residence and Justice of the Peace's office until about 1928 when the Cleburne Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy conceived the plan of restoring it. In 1929 the Arkansas General Assembly created the War Time Capitol Commission, which was charged with the responsibility of restoring and maintaining the old building. The legislature provided a small appropriation for restoration and maintenance. The building continued to be administered by the War Time Capitol Commission until 1947 when it was placed under the aegis of the newly created Arkansas Commemorative Commission. It has been maintained and operated as an historic building museum since that time, but came under the administration of the Arkansas Dept. of Parks and Tourism in the 1970s.
From the description of War Time Capitol Commission correspondence, 1939. (Arkansas History Commission). WorldCat record id: 645478293
