Pike County, Arkansas: History and Information

Pike County, Arkansas

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

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Etymology - Origin of County Name

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History

Created in November 1833 by the Territorial Legislature from portions of Clark and Hempstead counties and was named for Zebulon Pike, for whom Pike's Peak in Colorado is named. The county seat is Murfreesboro the landscape of the county is rugged terrain in the northern half and rolling hills in the south. The economic base of Pike County is made up of commercial forests and small family farms. At one time Pike County had the largest peach orchard in the United States or perhaps in the world. The Crater of Diamonds, an 886-acre natural park south of Murfreesboro, is the only diamond mine in North America open to the public. If you find a diamond, you keep the diamond. This brings hundreds of tourists to this area each year. More than 60,000 diamonds have been discovered since 1906, the largest and most famous being the "Uncle Sam" (40.33 carats), the "Star of Murfreesboro" (34.35 carats) and the "Star of Arkansas" (15.33 carats). The crater also yields amethyst, opal, jasper, agate, quartz and other minerals. The deed records for the diamond mind are housed in the county courthouse and are the only records of title in North America to a diamond mine. The Caddo River, the Little Missouri River and Lake Greeson offer excellent fishing, canoeing, swimming, picnicking sites, and other water activities. Pike County is an interesting and enjoyable county to visit.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Montgomery County

Southeast: Clark County; Nevada County

South: Hempstead County

Southwest: Howard County

Northwest: Polk 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

Pike County, Arkansas

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

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

Pike County, Arkansas

County Resource Guide

Penn Foster High School