Prairie County, Arkansas: History and Information

Prairie County, Arkansas

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

County Seat: Des Arc
Year Organized: 1846
Square Miles: 646

Court House:

605 Highway 38
County Courthouse
Des Arc, AR 72040-8109

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Prairie is named for the Grand Prairie of eastern Arkansas.

Demographics:

History

Created on November 25, 1846, and was named for its most obvious physical characteristics, in which the county lies on a spread of level land between the lower White and Arkansas rivers that is known at the Grand Prairie as early at 1819. The landscape is rich, flat, delta farmland, with rolling hills in the extreme northwest corner. The county has dual seats, Des Arc and DeValls Bluff. The economic base of the county is agriculture, cotton and rice, soybeans, wheat, and catfish, along with agriculture-related commerce and some industry. The scenic White River makes its way through the county, past both County Seats, on its way to the Mississippi River. Near the center of the county the Wattensaw Wildlife Management Area, 17,433 acres, spreads westward from the White River. Fishing, hunting and camping is poplar in this area. In the north of the county are Cypress and Des Arc Bayous, Lake Des Arc, spring and Horn Lakes and part of the Cache River and to the south, LA Grue Bayou and Peckerwood Lake which covers 4,000 acres. All of these waterways offer good fishing and a wide variety of water recreation. The stately courthouse at Des Arc is a 1913 Georgian architecture and the Courthouse at DeValls Bluff is a 1939 Quasi-Georgian architecture. Both house early history of Prairie County.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Woodruff County

Southeast: Monroe County; Arkansas County

Southwest: Lonoke County

Northwest: White County

Cities and Towns:

- De Valls Bluff

town

Incorporated Area

- Des Arc (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Fredonia (Biscoe)

town

Incorporated Area

- Hazen

city

Incorporated Area

- Ulm

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

Arkansas Counties

Prairie County, Arkansas

Prairie 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