Crawford County, Arkansas

Crawford County, Arkansas
Crawford County Courthouse within the Van Buren Historic District in Van Buren, Arkansas
Location in the state of Arkansas
Arkansas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1820
Seat	Van Buren
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	604.20 sq mi (1,565 km²) 595.39 sq mi (1,542 km²) 8.81 sq mi (23 km²),
Population  - (2010)  - Density	61,948 104/sq mi (40.17/km²)

Crawford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,948. The county seat is Van Buren.^[1] Crawford County was formed on October 18, 1820, and named for William H. Crawford who was United States Secretary of War in 1815. As a dry county, alcohol sales are generally prohibited, though recent changes to county law provide for exemptions.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 604.20 square miles (1,564.9 km²), of which 595.39 square miles (1,542.1 km²) (or 98.54%) is land and 8.81 square miles (22.8 km²) (or 1.46%) is water.^[2]

Major highways

• Interstate 40
• Interstate 540
• U.S. Highway 64
• U.S. Highway 71
• Highway 59
• Highway 60

Crawford County is included in an area designated for a planned extension of Interstate 49 into Arkansas. The final project will connect New Orleans, Louisiana to Kansas City, Missouri, a large trucking corridor which is currently not served by an Interstate highway. The proposed highway would utilize portions of Interstate 540 which currently runs north from Van Buren toward the Missouri state line passing through Benton County, home of Wal-Mart. The corridor was listed as the number-one high-priority corridor by transportation officials in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.

Adjacent counties

• Washington County (north)
• Madison County (northeast)
• Franklin County (east)
• Sebastian County (south)
• Le Flore County, Oklahoma (southwest)
• Sequoyah County, Oklahoma (west)
• Adair County, Oklahoma (northwest)

National protected area

• Ozark National Forest (part)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1830	2,440		—
1840	4,266		74.8%
1850	7,960		86.6%
1860	7,850		−1.4%
1870	8,957		14.1%
1880	14,740		64.6%
1890	21,714		47.3%
1900	21,270		−2.0%
1910	23,942		12.6%
1920	25,739		7.5%
1930	22,549		−12.4%
1940	23,920		6.1%
1950	22,727		−5.0%
1960	21,318		−6.2%
1970	25,677		20.4%
1980	36,892		43.7%
1990	42,493		15.2%
2000	53,247		25.3%
2010	61,948		16.3%
[3][4][5]

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 53,247 people, 19,702 households, and 15,150 families residing in the county. The population density was 35/km² (89/mi²). There were 21,315 housing units at an average density of 14/km² (36/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.19% White, 0.87% Black or African American, 2.01% Native American, 1.19% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.48% from other races, and 2.24% from two or more races. 3.27% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 19,702 households out of which 37.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.10% were non-families. 20.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.20% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 29.30% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 11.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,871, and the median income for a family was $36,741. Males had a median income of $29,581 versus $20,352 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,015. About 10.90% of families and 14.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.30% of those under age 18 and 13.70% of those age 65 or over.

Controversy

Thousands of self-claimed "Western Band of Cherokee" (or Arkansas Cherokees) fought for state and federal recognition as a political entity of Native Americans. Crawford County was historically part of the Cherokee Nation, which lost its tribal sovereignty status as a result of the U.S. Civil war in the 1860s. The Cherokee Nation was subsequently relocated to the west in the present-day state of Oklahoma.^{[citation needed]}

Cities and towns

Alma Cedarville Chester

Dyer Kibler Mountainburg

Mulberry Rudy Van Buren

Unincorporated communities

• Dora

Townships

Townships in Arkansas are the divisions of a county. Each township includes unincorporated areas and some may have incorporated towns or cities within part of their space. Townships have limited purposes in modern times. However, the US Census does list Arkansas population based on townships (often referred to as "minor civil divisions"). Townships are also of value for historical purposes in terms of genealogical research. Each town or city is within one or more townships in an Arkansas county based on census maps. The townships of Crawford County are listed below with the town(s) and/or city that are fully or partially inside them listed in parentheses. ^[7][8]

• Alma (most of Alma)
• Bidville
• Cedar Creek
• Cedarville (Cedarville)
• Chester (Chester, small part of Mountainburg)
• Cove City
• Dean Springs (small part of Alma)
• Dora (part of Van Buren)
• Dyer (Dyer, small part of Alma)
• Jasper
• Kibler (most of Kibler)
• Lancaster
• Lees Creek
• Locke
• Mountainburg (most of Mountainburg)
• Mulberry (most of Mulberry)
• Oliver Springs
• Porter
• Rudy (Rudy, very small part of Alma)
• Uniontown
• Upper
• Van Buren (most of Van Buren, part of Kibler)
• Vine Prairie (part of Mulberry)
• Whitley
• Winfrey

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Crawford County, Arkansas

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
2. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
3. ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/ar190090.txt
4. ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov
5. ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
6. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
7. ^ US Census Bureau. 2011 Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS): Crawford County, AR (Map). http://www2.census.gov/geo/pvs/bas/bas11/st05_ar/cou/c05033_crawford/BAS11C20503300000_000.pdf. Retrieved 20110825. 
8. ^ http://www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/DC10_GUBlkMap/cousub/dc10blk_st05_cousub.html#C

External links

• Crawford County government's website

Coordinates: 35°34′07″N 94°15′10″W / 35.56861°N 94.25278°W / 35.56861; -94.25278