Lawrence County, Arkansas: History and Information

Lawrence County, Arkansas

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

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Etymology - Origin of County Name

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History

Formed in January 15, 1815, by the Missouri Legislature, which had jurisdiction over the region until Arkansas became a territory in 1819, the county seat is Walnut Ridge. The county was named for Capt. James Lawrence, a naval officer killed in the War of 1812. The landscape of Lawrence County is flat-topped rolling hills in the western half and flat fertile delta river bottomland in the eastern half. The economy is made up of agriculture, with rice, soybeans, and milo as leading crops. Cattle, poultry, and light manufacturing also contribute to the economy. There are three highways that make it convenient to ship in and out of the county. Three rivers, the Strawberry, Spring, and Black flow through the county. Lake Charles along with Lake Charles State Park offers fishing, hiking, and picnicking and water sports. The park consists of 645 acres with 96 campsites scattered among the trees. The Shirey Bay-Rainey Brake Wildlife Management Area is a 10,500 acre tract between the Strawberry and Black Rivers and is managed primarily for water fowl. It also has excellent fishing. Thirty-one of the state's present counties were carved from the original Lawrence County. The original courthouse was at Powhatan and was destroyed by fire in 1885. The archives were saved because they were stored in a stone vault and today they are a part of the Powhatan State Park Museum's regional archive. In 1963 the two districts at Powhatan and Walnut Ridge were consolidated. Some of the oldest records in Arkansas that were written by quill with homemade ink is now stored at the abandoned 1888 courthouse in Powhatan.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Randolph County

East: Greene County

Southeast: Craighead County

South: Jackson County

Southwest: Independence County

Northwest: Sharp County

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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...

Arkansas

Arkansas Counties

Lawrence County, Arkansas

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

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

Lawrence County, Arkansas

County Resource Guide

Penn Foster High School