The first house in Maryville was built by Jack (John) Saunders, who was a large slave owner. The first courthouse was built in 1846. Formerly, county government affairs would be held in the home of an early settler, I.N. Prather. An updated courthouse was constructed in 1853, the second of only three in the city's history. The current courthouse was built in 1881 with a design by Edmond Jacques Eckel and George R. Mann. Mann would later go on to design the Arkansas State Capitol. The courthouse is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is adorned with a sculpture of a pineapple, the sign of welcome. The original court complex included one of the country's only rotary jails. The jail was torn down in 1984 and replaced with a new structure on the same site.