Cleveland County, Arkansas: History and Information

Cleveland County, Arkansas

Cleveland County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Rison
Year Organized: 1873
Square Miles: 598

Court House:

P.O. Box 348
County Courthouse
Rison, AR 71665-0348

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Cleveland is named for Stephen Grover Cleveland, the twenty-second and twenty-fourth president of the United States. Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was both the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States. Cleveland is the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897) and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He was the winner of the popular vote for President three times—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was the only Democrat elected to the Presidency in the era of Republican political domination that lasted from 1860 to 1912. Cleveland's admirers praise him for his honesty, independence, integrity, and commitment to the principles of classical liberalism. As a leader of the Bourbon Democrats, he opposed imperialism, taxes, subsidies and inflationary policies, but as a reformer he also worked against corruption, patronage, and bossism.

Demographics:

History

This county consists of rolling hills, in which was created in April 17, 1873, and was originally called Dorsey County, named for Stephen W. Dorsey, a US Senator from Arkansas, who later fell out of favor with Arkansans. Citizens petitioned for a change of name and in 1885 it was renamed Cleveland County in honor of Grover Cleveland, who had just been elected president of the United States. The county seat is Rison. Timber is the leading industry in the county. The Saline River was used for shipping logs before the railroads came to the county in 1881. The county has extended its economic base to produce tomatoes, broiler chicks and cattle. Rison is at the center of an estimated 15-by-6 mile iron deposit containing as much as 42% magnetite. The Saline River, a scenic river, runs through the county that also provides excellent fishing and floating. The courthouse represents an outstanding courthouse restoration and is listed on the National Register. On the courthouse lawn stands a memorial to veterans of the First and Second World Wars.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Jefferson County

East: Lincoln County

Southeast: Drew County

South: Bradley County

Southwest: Calhoun County

West: Dallas County

Northwest: Grant County

Cities and Towns:

- Kingsland

city

Incorporated Area

- Rison (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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