In Arkansas City, the Desha County Courthouse has stood since 1900, and for about as long as anyone remembers, its clock tower has not kept good time. Locals have a name for the reason: Willard.
The tale: According to local lore, a man was hanged near the courthouse in the early 1900s after being convicted of setting fire to hotels. He said he was innocent and, the story goes, swore he would curse the courthouse forever. The National Association of Counties notes there is no official record of the hanging, but older Desha County residents have long told the story.
The clock: Former Desha County Judge Mark McElroy, later a state representative, told the association he made fixing the clock a goal in the early 1990s. A repairman took it to Florida and refurbished it. After it came back, McElroy said, it rang 13 times, rang all night, shut off, and jumped an hour ahead overnight. After 10 or 12 return trips, the repairman said he could not guarantee a fix “because it’s haunted.”
McElroy also recalled working late on a budget, alone in the locked building, when he heard high heels crossing the tile floor and a door slam upstairs toward the tower. Nobody was there. In 2009, a paranormal group visited with about 40 local residents and reporters. A state historic preservation tour script says the crowd saw “sparklers” drift through the courtroom.
The history: Arkansas City was once one of the most important ports on the Mississippi River and never fully recovered from the Flood of 1927. Its courthouse, built in 1900, is one of the oldest in Arkansas still in use and was restored in 2005. A 1903 Sanborn map in the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s tour notes shows gallows east of the courthouse; they were gone by 1917.
Ghost or not, Willard has become part of the charm of one of the Delta’s most beautiful public buildings, and he makes a good excuse when the clock is off.
Sources: National Association of Counties — Arkansas county’s ‘haunted’ clock tower makes for spooky courthouse (Oct. 30, 2023); Arkansas Historic Preservation Program — Walks Through History: Historic Arkansas City tour script (2011).
