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White County
White County Courthouse and Confederate monument in Searcy
White County Courthouse and Confederate monument in Searcy
Flag of White County
Flag
Official seal of White County
Seal
Map of Arkansas highlighting White County
Location within the U.S. state of Arkansas
Map of the United States highlighting Arkansas
Arkansas's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Arkansas
Founded October 23, 1835
Named for Hugh Lawson White
Seat Searcy
Largest city Searcy
Area
 • Total 1,042 sq mi (2,700 km2)
 • Land 1,035 sq mi (2,680 km2)
 • Water 7.1 sq mi (18 km2)  0.7%%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total 77,076
 • Estimate 
(2019)
78,753
 • Density 73.97/sq mi (28.560/km2)
Time zone UTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district 2nd

White County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 77,076. The county seat is Searcy. White County is Arkansas's 31st county, formed on October 23, 1835, from portions of Independence, Jackson, and Pulaski counties and named for Hugh Lawson White, a Whig candidate for President of the United States. It is an alcohol prohibition or dry county, though a few private establishments (such as the Searcy Country Club, and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Searcy and Beebe) can serve alcohol.

White County comprises the Searcy, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR Combined Statistical Area.

The 45th and current White County Judge is Michael Lincoln of Searcy, who assumed office in January 2007.

History

On May 17, 1862, White County was the site of the Little Red Skirmish between Union Major General Samule J Curtis and a force of about 100 loosely organized rebels, followed by the Action at Whitney Lane in June., also known as The Skirmish at Searcy Landing.

In 1958, Odell Pollard, a since retired attorney from Searcy, exposed corrupt election practices at Bald Knob, a small city in White County. Election workers cast "absentee ballots" for some thirty pipeline construction workers and their spouses. However, these workers were outside of Arkansas at the time of the election, which had a prohibition measure on the ballot. These voters never cast absentee votes, according to their affidavits presented by Pollard to the White County prosecutor. No action was taken until after the statute of limitations had expired, at which time the charges were rendered moot. Pollard said the fraud case cause him to switch his partisan affiliation from Democrat to Republican. From 1966-1970, Pollard was the state party chairman, and from 1973-1976 was the Arkansas Republican National Committeeman.

In 1988, White County elected virtually an entire slate of Republicans to county offices. Though such Republican sweeps had frequently occurred in northern and northwestern Arkansas, White County was the first in the Little Rock area to turn to the GOP, as the party steadily made inroads toward a two-party system.

A portion of White County is represented in the Arkansas State Senate by the Republican Ronald R. Caldwell, a real estate businessman from Wynne in Cross County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,042 square miles (2,700 km2), of which 1,035 square miles (2,680 km2) is land and 7.1 square miles (18 km2) (0.7%) is water. It is the second-largest county by area in Arkansas.

Major highways

  • US 64.svg U.S. Highway 64
  • US 67.svg U.S. Highway 67
  • US 167.svg U.S. Highway 167
  • Arkansas 5.svg Highway 5
  • Arkansas 11.svg Highway 11
  • Arkansas 13.svg Highway 13
  • Arkansas 16.svg Highway 16
  • Arkansas 31.svg Highway 31
  • Arkansas 36.svg Highway 36
  • Arkansas 87.svg Highway 87
  • Arkansas 110.svg Highway 110
  • Arkansas 124.svg Highway 124
  • Arkansas 157.svg Highway 157
  • Arkansas 258.svg Highway 258
  • Arkansas 267.svg Highway 267
  • Arkansas 305.svg Highway 305
  • Arkansas 310.svg Highway 310
  • Arkansas 320.svg Highway 320
  • Arkansas 321.svg Highway 321
  • Arkansas 323.svg Highway 323
  • Arkansas 367.svg Highway 367
  • Arkansas 385.svg Highway 385

Adjacent counties

National and state protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1840 929
1850 2,619 181.9%
1860 8,316 217.5%
1870 10,347 24.4%
1880 17,794 72.0%
1890 22,946 29.0%
1900 24,864 8.4%
1910 28,574 14.9%
1920 34,603 21.1%
1930 38,269 10.6%
1940 37,176 −2.9%
1950 38,040 2.3%
1960 32,745 −13.9%
1970 39,253 19.9%
1980 50,835 29.5%
1990 54,676 7.6%
2000 67,165 22.8%
2010 77,076 14.8%
2019 (est.) 78,753 2.2%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790–1960 1900–1990
1990–2000 2010–2016
USA White County, Arkansas age pyramid
Age pyramid White County

2020 census

White County racial composition
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 64,363 83.78%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 3,677 4.79%
Native American 319 0.42%
Asian 616 0.8%
Pacific Islander 25 0.03%
Other/Mixed 4,323 5.63%
Hispanic or Latino 3,499 4.55%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 76,822 people, 28,621 households, and 18,028 families residing in the county.

Communities

Cities

Towns

Unincorporated communities

  • Albion — north-central White County, between Four Mile Hill or "Boothill" and Pangburn, and north of Letona, along Arkansas Highway 16 and surrounding county roads
  • Antioch — western White County, north of Beebe, along Arkansas Highways 31 and 267 and surrounding county roads
  • Andrews
  • Bare Stone
  • Barrentine Corner
  • Bee Rock
  • Belcher
  • Center Hill — central White County, approximately 8 miles west of Searcy, situated along Arkansas Highway 36 and 305 and surrounding county roads
  • Clay
  • Conant
  • Crosby
  • Dewey
  • Dogwood
  • Doniphan
  • El Paso — southwestern White County, situated along Arkansas Highway 5 and U.S. Highway 64 West
  • Enright
  • Essex
  • Floyd — western White County, approximately 8 miles southeast of Romance, along Arkansas Highways 31 and 305 and surrounding county roads
  • Four Mile Hill or "Boot Hill" — central White County, northwest of Searcy and southeast of Albion, along Arkansas Highway 16 and surrounding county roads
  • Georgia Ridge — home community of Arkansas State Representative Charlotte Douglas of District 75 in Crawford County
  • Gravel Hill — western White County, northwest of Floyd and south of Joy, situated between Arkansas Highways 31 and 36 along Gravel Hill Road and surrounding county roads
  • Hammondsville — western White County, between Romance and El Paso, primarily situated along Hammons Chapel Road (connecting Highway 5 and El Paso Road)
  • Happy
  • Harmony — central White County, southwest of Center Hill, situated along Arkansas Highway 305 and surrounding county roads
  • Hart
  • Hickory Flat
  • Holly Springs
  • Joy — central White County, between Rose Bud and Center Hill, situated along Arkansas Highway 36 and surrounding county roads
  • Keeler Corner
  • Liberty Valley — eastern White County, between Bald Knob and the White River, along U.S. Highway 64 East and surrounding county roads
  • Little Red
  • Midway
  • Mitchell Corner
  • Morning Sun — annexed to Higginson in 2008
  • Nimmo
  • Opal — southwestern White County, between El Paso and Beebe, along U.S. Highway 64 West and Opal Road and surrounding county roads
  • Pickens — north-central White County, between Sidon and Letona, along Arkansas Highway 310 (Pickens Chapel Road) and Pickens Road and surrounding county roads
  • Plainview — northeastern White County, north of Judsonia, along Arkansas Highways 157 and 385 and surrounding county roads
  • Pryor
  • Providence — northeastern White County, north of Judsonia and northwest of Bald Knob, along Arkansas Highways 157 and 258 and surrounding county roads; site of White County Central Schools
  • Rio Vista
  • Romance — western White County, between Rose Bud and El Paso, along Arkansas Highways 5 and 31 and surrounding county roads
  • Showalter's Corner
  • Sidon — north-central White County, west of Pickens and north of Joy, along Arkansas Highway 310 and surrounding county roads
  • Smyrna
  • Steprock
  • Sunnydale
  • Twentythree
  • Velvet Ridge — northeastern White County, north of Bald Knob, along U.S. Highway 167 and surrounding county roads
  • Vinity Corner — south-central White County, south of Garner and southeast of McRae, along West Vinity Road, North Vinity Road, and other county roads southeast of Arkansas Highway 367
  • Walker — southeastern White County, south of Higginson and west of Griffithville, along Arkansas Highway 11 (Walker Road) and surrounding county roads
  • Worden
  • Wright's Corner

Historic towns

  • Beeler Ferry
  • Bethel Grove
  • Denmark
  • Jasmine
  • Mount Pisgah
  • Old Stoney Point
  • Roosevelt
  • Russell
  • Union Hill

Townships

Townships in Arkansas are the divisions of a county. Each township includes unincorporated areas; some may have incorporated cities or towns within part of their boundaries. Arkansas townships have limited purposes in modern times. However, the United States Census does list Arkansas population based on townships (sometimes referred to as "county subdivisions" or "minor civil divisions"). Townships are also of value for historical purposes in terms of genealogical research. Each town or city is within one or more townships in an Arkansas county based on census maps and publications. The townships of White County are listed below; listed in parentheses are the cities, towns, and/or census-designated places that are fully or partially inside the township.

Source:

Economy

One of the state's largest banks, First Security Bank, was established in Searcy in 1932 as Security Bank. First Security now has over $8 billion in assets and 78 locations in Arkansas.

The first Wal-Mart distribution center away from the corporate headquarters in Bentonville was established in Searcy.

Education

Public education

Public education is provided by several public school districts including:

  • Searcy School District, with six schools serving more than 4,000 students; includes Searcy High School, Searcy
  • Beebe School District, with seven schools serving more than 3,200 students; includes Beebe High School, Beebe, and Beebe Middle School, McRae
  • Riverview School District, with four schools serving more than 1,300 students; includes Riverview High School, Searcy, with elementary campuses in Judsonia and Kensett
  • Bald Knob School District, with three schools serving more than 1,300 students; includes Bald Knob High School, Bald Knob
  • Rose Bud School District, with two schools serving more than 800 students; including Rose Bud High School, Rose Bud
  • White County Central School District, with two schools serving more than 700 students; includes White County Central High School, Judsonia
  • Pangburn School District, with two schools serving more than 700 students; includes Pangburn High School, Pangburn
  • Bradford School District, with two schools serving more than 500 students; includes Bradford High School, Bradford

Private education

  • CrossPointe Preparatory, Searcy, Churches of Christ
  • Harding Academy, Searcy, Churches of Christ
  • Liberty Christian School, Searcy, Christian
  • Lighthouse Christian Academy, Beebe, Pentecostal
  • Sunshine School, Searcy
  • Trinity Christian School, Bradford, Baptist

Colleges and universities

  • Arkansas State University-Beebe Public, established in 1927 as The Junior Agricultural School of Central Arkansas.
  • Arkansas State University-Searcy A technical branch of Arkansas State University
  • Harding University Private, Churches of Christ enrollment over 6000.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de White (Arkansas) para niños

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