Arkansas County Formation and County Seats

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Arkansas
Surnames/tags: Arkansas Counties Arkansas_History

Arkansas Counties

Order	County	County Seat	Established	Origin	Etymology
1	Arkansas	Stuttgart	December 13, 1813	1st County (Eastern Arkansas)	A variant pronunciation of the Quapaw Native American people
2	Lawrence County	Walnut Ridge	January 15, 1815	Arkansas and New Madrid (MO) in 1815	James Lawrence (1781–1813), an American naval officer during the War of 1812
3	Clark County	Arkadelphia	December 15, 1818	Arkansas (1818)	William Clark (1770–1838), explorer and Governor of the Missouri Territory
4	Hempstead County	Hope	December 15, 1818	Arkansas (1818)	Edward Hempstead (1780–1817), Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Missouri Territory
5	Pulaski County	Little Rock	December 15, 1818	Arkansas and Lawrence counties (1818)	Kazimierz Pulaski (1745–1779), the Polish general in the American Revolutionary War
6	Miller County	Texarkana	April 1, 1820	Lafayette County	Former Miller County, Arkansas Territory (1820-38), which was named for James Miller (1776–1851), first Governor of the Arkansas Territory
7	Phillips County	Helena	May 1, 1820	Arkansas and Lawrence County	Sylvanus Phillips, a member of the territorial legislature
8	Crawford County	Van Buren	October 18, 1820	Pulaski County	William Harris Crawford (1772–1834), a politician who served as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of War
9	Independence County	Batesville	October 20, 1820	Lawrence County (1820)	The Declaration of Independence
10	Chicot County	Lake Village	October 15, 1823	Arkansas County	Point Chicot on the Mississippi River
11	Conway County	Morrilton	October 20, 1825	Pulaski County	Henry Wharton Conway (1793–1827), territorial delegate to the United States House of Representatives
12	Crittenden County	Marion	October 22, 1825	Phillips County	Robert Crittenden (1797–1834), Governor of the Arkansas Territory
13	Izard County	Melbourne	October 27, 1825	Independence, Crawford counties, and later from Fulton (prior 1880)	George Izard (1776–1828), Governor of the Arkansas Territory and a General during the War of 1812
14	St. Francis County	Forrest City	October 13, 1827	Formed from Phillips County	The St. Francis River, a tributary of the Mississippi River
15	Lafayette County	Lewisville	October 15, 1827	Hempstead County and later from Columbia County (prior 1910)	Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834), a Frenchman who served as a General in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War
16	Washington County	Fayetteville	October 17, 1828	Lovely County	George Washington (1732–1799), first president of the United States
17	Sevier County	De Queen	October 17, 1828	Hempstead County	Ambrose Sevier (1801–1848), a U.S. Senator from Arkansas
18	Monroe County	Clarendon	November 2, 1829	Phillips and Arkansas counties	James Monroe (1758–1831), 5th President of the United States
19	Hot Spring County	Malvern	November 2, 1829	Clark County and later from Montgomery County (prior 1880)	Naturally occurring hot springs within the county[Note 1]
20	Jefferson County	Pine Bluff	November 2, 1829	Arkansas and Pulaski	Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), 3rd President of the United States
21	Pope County	Russellville	November 2, 1829	Crawford County	John Pope (1770–1845), a governor of the Arkansas Territory
22	Union County	El Dorado	November 2, 1829	Clark and Hempstead counties	Petition of citizens in the Spirit of "Union and Unity"
23	Jackson County	Newport	November 5, 1829	Lawrence and St. Francis counties	Andrew Jackson (1767–1845), 7th President of the United States
24	Carroll County	Berryville and Eureka Springs	November 1, 1833	Izard County and later by Madison County (1870)	Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737–1832), a signer of the Declaration of Independence
25	Mississippi County	Blytheville and Osceola	November 1, 1833	Crittenden	the Mississippi River
26	Pike County	Murfreesboro	November 1, 1833	Clark and Hempstead counties	Zebulon Pike (1779–1813), the explorer and discoverer of Pikes Peak
27	Van Buren County	Clinton	November 11, 1833	Conway, Izard, and Independence	Martin Van Buren (1782–1862), eighth president of the United States
28	Johnson County	Clarksville	November 16, 1833	Pope County, and a small portion from Madison County (prior 1890)	Benjamin Johnson (1784–1849), the first judge of the federal district court for Arkansas
29	White County	Searcy	October 23, 1835	Independence, Jackson and Pulaski counties	Hugh L. White (1773–1840), U.S. Senator from Tennessee and U.S. presidential candidate in 1836 for the Whig Party
30	Randolph County	Pocahontas	October 29, 1835	Lawrence County	John Randolph of Roanoke (1773–1833), a U.S. congressman from Virginia
31	Saline County	Benton	November 2, 1835	Independence and Pulaski	Salt reserves found within its borders
32	Marion County	Yellville	November 3, 1835	Izard County	Francis Marion (1732–1795), an American general during the Revolutionary War
33	Greene County	Paragould	November 5, 1833	Lawrence County and later on by Randolph	Nathanael Greene (1742–1786), the Revolutionary War General
34	Scott County	Waldron	November 5, 1833	Crawford and Pope counties	Andrew Scott (1789–1841), a judge of the Supreme Court of Arkansas Territory
35	Benton County	Bentonville	September 30, 1836	Washington County	Thomas H. Benton (1782–1858), a U.S. Senator from Missouri
36	Madison County	Huntsville	September 30, 1836	Washington County	James Madison (1751–1836), 4th President of the United States
37	Franklin County	Ozark and Charleston	December 19, 1837	Crawford and Johnson counties	Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), founding father of the United States
38	Poinsett County	Harrisburg	February 28, 1838	Greene, Lawrence counties	Joel Poinsett (1779–1851), a United States Secretary of War and namesake of the poinsettia
39	Desha County	Arkansas City	December 12, 1838	Arkansas, Union counties, then from Chicot County (prior to 1880), and Lincoln (prior 1930)	Benjamin Desha, a soldier in the War of 1812
40	Searcy County	Marshall	December 13, 1838	Marion County	Richard Searcy, a judge from Lawrence County
41	Bradley County	Warren	December 18, 1840	Union County	Hugh Bradley, a soldier in the War of 1812 and early area settler
42	Perry County	Perryville	December 18, 1840	Conway County	Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819), a naval officer in the War of 1812
43	Fulton County	Salem	December 21, 1842	Izard County and then later from Lawrence County (prior 1850)	William Savin Fulton (1795–1844), the last Governor of the Arkansas Territory prior to statehood
44	Ouachita County	Camden	November 29, 1842	Union	the Ouachita River
45	Yell County	Danville and Dardanelle	December 5, 1840	Hot Spring, Pope, and Scott County	Archibald Yell (1797–1847), the second governor of Arkansas
46	Montgomery County	Mount Ida	December 9, 1842	Hot Spring	Richard Montgomery (1738–1775), an American general during the Revolutionary War
48	Polk County	Mena	November 30, 1844	Sevier	James K. Polk (1795–1849), the eleventh president of the United States
49	Dallas County	Fordyce	January 1, 1845	Clark and Bradley counties	George M. Dallas (1792–1864), 11th Vice President of the United States
50	Prairie County	Des Arc and De Valls Bluff	October 25, 1846	Arkansas and Pulaski counties	Grand Prairie of eastern Arkansas
51	Drew County	Monticello	November 26, 1846	Bradley, Chicot, Desha, Union counties	Thomas Stevenson Drew (1802–1879), 3rd Governor of Arkansas
52	Ashley	Hamburg	November 30, 1848	Chicot, Drew and Union counties	Chester Ashley (1791–1848), a U.S. Senator from Arkansas
53	Calhoun County	Hampton	December 6, 1850	Dallas and Ouachita counties	John C. Calhoun (1782–1850), 7th Vice President of the United States and a Senator from South Carolina
54	Sebastian County	Greenwood and Fort Smith	January 6, 1851	Crawford and Scott	William K. Sebastian (1812–1865), a U.S. Circuit Court judge from Arkansas
55	Columbia County	Magnolia	December 17, 1852	Formed from Lafayette, Hempstead, and Ouachita counties	Columbia, a female personification of the United States
56	Craighead County	Jonesboro and Lake City	February 19, 1859	Mississippi, Greene, Poinsett counties	Thomas Brown Craighead (1798–1862), a state senator who ironically opposed the creation of the county
57	Cross County	Wynne	November 15, 1862	St. Francis, Poinsett, and Crittenden counties	David C. Cross, a Confederate soldier in the Civil War and local politician
58	Woodruff County	Augusta	November 26, 1862	Jackson and St. Francis counties	William Woodruff (1795–1885), the first newspaper publisher in Arkansas
59	Little River County	Ashdown	March 5, 1867	Sevier County	Little River, a tributary of the Red River
60	Sharp County	Ash Flat	July 18, 1868	Lawrence County	Ephraim Sharp, an early settler and state legislator from the area
61	Grant County	Sheridan	Febauary 4, 1869	Jefferson, Hot Spring, Saline counties	Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), 18th President of the United States
62	Boone County	Harrison	April 9, 1869	Carroll and Marion counties	Some historians say Daniel Boone (1734–1820), the American frontiersman
63	Nevada County	Prescott	March 20, 1871	Columbia, Hempstead, Ouachita counties	the state of Nevada, which has a similar outline to the county's boundaries
64	Logan County	Booneville and Paris	March 22, 1871	Franklin, Johnson, Pope, Scott, and Yell counties (Formally named Sarber County)	James Logan (1791–1859), an early settler of western Arkansas
65	Lincoln County	Star City	March 28, 1871	Arkansas, Bradley, Desha, Drew, and Jefferson counties	Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), 16th President of the United States
66	Baxter County	Mountain Home	March 24, 1873	Fulton, Izard, Marion, and Searcy counties	Elisha Baxter (1827–1899), a Governor of Arkansas
67	Clay County	Piggott and Corning	March 24, 1873	Randolph and Greene counties, and originally named Clayton before 1875 to avoid misassociation with Powell Clayton	John Middleton Clayton, a State Senator; later shortened to Clay
68	Garland County	Hot Springs	April 5, 1873	Montgomery, Hot Spring, and Saline counties	Augustus Hill Garland (1832–1899), U.S. Senator and 11th Governor of Arkansas
69	Faulkner County	Conway	April 12, 1873	Pulaski and Conway counties	Sanford Faulkner (1806–1874), a Confederate soldier and the composer of the song "The Arkansas Traveler"
70	Lonoke County	Lonoke	April 16, 1873	Prairie and Pulaski counties	An oak tree that stood on the site of the current county seat
71	Cleveland County	Rison	April 17, 1873	Bradley, Dallas, Jefferson counties, and formerly named Dorsey County (from 1885)	Stephen Grover Cleveland (1837–1908), 22nd and 24th President of the United States (formerly Stephen Dorsey, U.S. Senator from Arkansas)
72	Howard County	Nashville	April 17, 1873	Pike, Hempstead, Polk, Sevier counties.	James H. Howard, an Arkansas State Senator
73	Lee County	Marianna	April 17, 1873	Phillips, Monroe, Crittenden, and St. Francis counties.	Robert E. Lee (1807–1870), a confederate General during the Civil War
74	Stone County	Mountain View	April 21, 1873	Izard, Independence, Searcy, Van Buren	Rugged, rocky area terrain
75	Cleburne County	Heber Springs	February 20, 1883	White, Van Buren, and Independence counties	Patrick Cleburne (1828–1864), a Confederate General in the Civil War

Extinct Counties

• Lovely County (1827–1828)

Created on October 13, 1827, partitioned from Crawford County. The Treaty of Washington, 1828 ceded most of its territory to Indian Territory. Abolished October 17, 1828 with the remaining portion becoming Washington County.

• Miller County, Arkansas Territory (1820-38)

Created from Hempstead County. Most of its northern portion was in Choctaw Nation (now part of Oklahoma); rest of northern portion was dissolved into Sevier County in 1828. All of its southern portion was in Texas, and was nominally dissolved into Lafayette County in 1838.

Sources

• Wikipedia:List_of_counties_in_Arkansas