Hot Spring County, Arkansas: History and Information

Hot Spring County, Arkansas

Hot Spring County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Malvern
Year Organized: 1829
Square Miles: 615

Court House:

210 Locust Street
County Courthouse
Malvern, AR 72104-3791

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Hot Spring is named for the hot springs at the town of that name which were within the borders of the county at the time of its formation. The city takes its name from the natural thermal water that flows from 47 springs on the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain in the historic downtown district of the city. About a million gallons of 143-degree water flow from the springs each day.

Demographics:

History

Created in November 2, 1829, by the Territorial Legislature from a part of Clark County, the county's name came from the natural hot springs that later became world famous as a part of Garland County. The county seat is Malvern. The landscape is forested ridges, and river bottomland, with the Ouachita Mountains in the north and west and rolling hills in the southeast. Hot Spring County's economy base is beef and dairy cattle, and cultivation of hay, soybeans and rice. Industrial development includes lumber mills, brick plants, metals, and small industry. Many residents currently commute out of the county for work. The county has many varieties (65) of valuable minerals including the nation's greatest concentrations of novaculite and vanadium and magnet ore, which is in the roadbed of US Highway 270. Malvern calls itself the "Brick Capital of the World." In July of each year Brick fest is celebrated with arts, crafts, games, and entertainment. The county courthouse, constructed in 1936 by the WPA, is built of local brick. Lake Catherine, set in a forest of tall pines and hardwoods, offers a getaway for fishing and other water sports, and the State Park offers campsites, cabins, hiking trails, and a marina. The Ouachita River, which runs through the county, is well known for its fishing and floating. Many campers enjoy the area and return year after year

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Saline County

East: Grant County

Southeast: Dallas County

Southwest: Clark County

Northwest: Montgomery County; Garland County

Cities and Towns:

- Donaldson

town

Incorporated Area

- Friendship

town

Incorporated Area

- Magnet Cove

town

Incorporated Area

- Malvern (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Perla

town

Incorporated Area

- Rockport

town

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."

Arkansas State...

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Arkansas Counties

Hot Spring County, Arkansas

Hot Spring County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

County Resource Guide