34°16′27″N 91°23′02″W / 34.27417°N 91.38389°W Arkansas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,149.[1] Located in the Arkansas Delta, the county has two county seats, DeWitt and Stuttgart.[2]
Arkansas County | |
|---|---|
 Clockwise from top: a rice field on the Grand Prairie, the Yancopin Bridge over the Arkansas River, the Southern District Courthouse in DeWitt, the Northern District Courthouse in Stuttgart, Arkansas | |
 Location within the U.S. state of Arkansas | |
 Arkansas's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 34°16′27″N 91°23′02″W / 34.2742°N 91.3839°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Arkansas |
| Founded | December 13, 1813[3] |
| Named for | Arkansas River |
| Seat | Stuttgart (north district); De Witt (south district) |
| Largest city | Stuttgart |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,033.79 sq mi (2,677.5 km2) |
| • Land | 988.49 sq mi (2,560.2 km2) |
| • Water | 45.30 sq mi (117.3 km2) 4.4% |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 17,149 |
| • Density | 17/sq mi (6.4/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
The first of the state's 75 present-day counties to be created, Arkansas County was formed from New Madrid County on December 13, 1813, when this area was part of the Missouri Territory. The county was named after the Arkansas River (itself named for the Arkansas tribe), as was the subsequent Arkansas Territory which was later split off from Missouri Territory and eventually admitted to the union as a state. The riverfront areas in the Arkansas Delta were developed for cotton plantations that used enslaved African Americans. Cotton was the major commodity crop before and after the Civil War. Since then, the county lies within the largest rice-growing region in the United States.
Arkansas County is one of seven present-day counties in the United States that have the same name as the state in which they are located.[5]
- ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Arkansas County, Arkansas". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ^ "Pictorial" (1890), p. 823.
- ^ Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation (October 16, 2014). Arkansas County Polygons (SHP file) (Map). Arkansas GIS Office. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
- ^ Joseph Nathan Kane; Charles Curry Aiken (2005). The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, and Population Data, 1950-2000. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5036-1.