Adair County is named for the Adair family of the Cherokee Native American tribe.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Delaware County
E – Benton County, Arkansas, Washington County, Arkansas and Crawford County, Arkansas
S – Sequoyah County
W – Cherokee County
Created: July 16, 1907
County Seat:
Stilwell 1907 – present
County Courthouse – Stilwell
Location: 220 West Division Street / South 2nd Street
Built: 1931 – 1932
Style: Art Deco
Architect: J J Haralson of Haralson & Nelson
Contractor: J H Reddick
Description: The building faces north and is a three story buff colored brick, limestone, steel and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Stilwell. The north front has concrete trimmed entrances. Vertical concrete dividers separate the windows on the second story. Square glass bricks are incorporated into the upper three-fourths of the windows, The areas of carved stone which frame the doorways and which decorate the parapet, display an elaborate pattern of curlicues, rosettes, and the high-relief faces of Indian chieftans wearing feathered headdresses. The roof line is flat. The base of the building is concrete. In the interior, the County District Court courtroom is located on the north side of the third story. The building houses the County District Court of the 15th Judicial District. A one story buff colored brick addition was added on the west side in 1967. The architect was Scott-Peter and Associates and the contractor was C A Self Construction Company. The addition is named as the Adair County Welfare Building. A new two story addition was constructed on the west side in 2016 to 2017 to replace the 1967 addition. The architect was Mike Martins of Martin Design Associates of Muskogee and the contractor was Rodney Schilt of Schilt Management Services, Inc. of Pryor. The new addition contains the Commissioner’s Room on the first story and the second courtroom on the second story.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Adair County Courthouse
See: The 15th Judicial District includes Cherokee County, Muskogee County, Sequoyah County and Wagoner County.
History: The county was created in 1907 and Stillwell was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a two story schoolhouse from 1902 to 1908. The second courthouse was a brick structure built in 1908. The third courthouse a stone structure which burned down and the fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1931 to 1932.
County Courthouse – Stilwell
County District Court courtroom
County Welfare Building – Stilwell
Photos taken 2010