The Arkansas City High School was a comprehensive public high school serving students between 1910 and 2004 in Arkansas City, Arkansas,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Since 2005, the original 1910 building, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, has served as an annex of the neighboring Desha County Courthouse. It was a part of the

Arkansas City School District The Arkansas City School District was a school district of Arkansas City, Arkansas. Its territory is now in the McGehee School District. The district had two schools, Arkansas City Elementary School and Arkansas City High School. The athletic ...

History

Historic facility

Arkansas City High School (1910-1983)

Located in

Desha County Desha County ( ) is a county located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of Arkansas, with its eastern border the Mississippi River. At the 2010 census, the population was 13,008. It ranks 56th of Arkansas's 75 counties in terms of populati ...

in southeastern Arkansas, the Arkansas City High School was built in 1910 and listed on the

in 1984. It was designed by Arkansas architect Clyde A. Ferrell in Colonial Revival and

Renaissance Revival style Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

architecture. This building served as the high school until 1983, when the high school relocated to a newer building near

Arkansas Highway 4 Highway 4 (AR 4, Ark. 4, and Hwy. 4) is a designation for two state highways in Arkansas. The western segment of runs from SH-4 at the Oklahoma state line and terminates in Cove. An eastern segment of begins at U.S. Route 278 (US&nbs ...

, at Iulagi Street and Sadie Lee Avenue.

Courthouse Annex (2005-)

For approximately 20 years from its closure in 1983, the former high school fell into disrepair. By 2003, a $2.2 million two-year renovation of the building began. The revived structure reopened in 2005 as an annex of the Desha County Courthouse. While the courthouse underwent its own renovations in the early 2000s, the former high school also housed the county courts.

Public education in Arkansas City

The

served Arkansas City, with students at Arkansas City High School and Arkansas City Elementary School, until consolidation with the

McGehee School District McGehee School District is a public school district headquartered in McGehee, Arkansas. The school district encompasses of land, in Drew and Desha counties. History In July 1993 the Desha-Drew School District dissolved, with portions going ...

on July 1, 2004. Arkansas City High School's mascot was the

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, so named due to the town's close proximity to the Mississippi River. The district consolidation was the result of the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 100 ...

enacting a law requiring school districts with fewer than 350 students apiece to consolidate with other districts.Dumas inherits Gould district’s deficit
."

Arkansas News Stephens Media LLC was a Las Vegas, Nevada, diversified media investment company. It owned stakes in the California Newspapers Partnership and the ''Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette''. The company had been expanding its interactive Internet ...

. May 11, 2005. Retrieved on March 7, 2011.Consolidation/Annexations of LEA's (1983-2010)
."

Arkansas Department of Education Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Retrieved on March 6, 2011. Following the consolidation, the McGehee district continued to operate the newer Arkansas City campus as a K-6 elementary school through its closure in October 2005.Campuses
" McGehee School District. October 18, 2005. Retrieved on July 28, 2011. The 1983 campus has since housed a branch of the Southeast Arkansas Regional Library System.

References