Crawford County, Arkansas


Crawford County is a county located in the Ozarks region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 60,133. The county seat and largest city is Van Buren. Crawford County was formed on October 18, 1820, from the former Lovely County and Indian Territory, and was named for William H. Crawford, the United States Secretary of War in 1815.
Located largely within the Ozarks, the southern border of the county is the Arkansas River, placing the extreme southern edge of the county in the Arkansas River Valley. The frontier county became an early crossroads, beginning with a California Gold Rush and developing into the Butterfield Overland Mail, Civil War trails, and railroads such as the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. Today, the county is home to the intersection of two major interstate highways, Interstate 40 and I-49. Crawford County is part of the Fort Smith metropolitan area. As a dry county, alcohol sales are generally prohibited, though recent changes to county law provide for exemptions.
WWW crawford-county.org

Geography

Crawford County is located in the northwest region of Arkansas. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which are covered by water.

Major highways

Crawford County is included in an area designated for a planned extension of I-49 into Arkansas. The final project will connect New Orleans, Louisiana, to Kansas City, Missouri, a large trucking corridor, which is currently not served by an interstate highway. The proposed highway would use portions of I-49 that currently runs north from Van Buren toward the Missouri state line passing through Benton County, home of Walmart. The corridor was listed as the number-one high-priority corridor by transportation officials in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.

Transit

Adjacent counties

National protected area

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 60,133. The median age was 39.9 years. 24.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.6% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.8 males age 18 and over.
50.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 49.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 22,986 households in the county, of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 52.0% were married-couple households, 16.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 25,300 housing units, of which 9.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 71.2% were owner-occupied and 28.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.7%.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 53,247 people, 19,702 households, and 15,150 families residing in the county. The population density was. The 21,315 housing units had an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 92.19% White, 0.87% Black or African American, 2.01% Native American, 1.19% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.48% from other races, and 2.24% from two or more races. About 3.27% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
Of the 19,702 households, 37.5% had children under 18 living with them, 62.2% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.1% were not families. About 20.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the county, the age distribution was 28.2% under 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 94.2 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $32,871, and for a family was $36,741. Males had a median income of $29,581 versus $20,352 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,015. About 10.9% of families and 14.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.3% of those under 18 and 13.70% of those 65 or over.

Controversy

Thousands of self-claimed "Western Band of Cherokee" failed to obtain state and federal recognition as a political entity of Native Americans. Crawford County was historically part of the Cherokee Nation, which lost its tribal sovereignty status as a result of the U.S. Civil War in the 1860s. The Cherokee Nation was subsequently relocated to the west in the present-day state of Oklahoma.
The violent arrest of Randal Worcester by two Crawford County sheriff's deputies and one Mulberry police officer took place in Mulberry, Crawford County, in August 2022.

Government

Government

The county government is a constitutional body granted specific powers by the Constitution of Arkansas and the Arkansas Code. The quorum court is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all spending and revenue collection. Representatives are called justices of the peace and are elected from county districts every even-numbered year. The number of districts in a county vary from nine to fifteen, and district boundaries are drawn by the county election commission. The Crawford County Quorum Court has thirteen members. Presiding over quorum court meetings is the county judge, who serves as the chief operating officer of the county. The county judge is elected at-large and does not vote in quorum court business, although capable of vetoing quorum court decisions.
The composition of the Quorum Court following the 2024 elections is 13 Republicans. Justices of the Peace of the Quorum Court following the elections are:
  • District 1: Robert Arnold of Rudy
  • District 2: Lonnie Myers of Van Buren
  • District 3: Morgan R. Morgan of Van Buren
  • District 4: Lloyd Cole of Van Buren
  • District 5: Brad Martin of Van Buren
  • District 6: Mark Shaffer of Van Buren
  • District 7: Kyle Stinchcomb of Van Buren
  • District 8: Tia Woodruff of Alma
  • District 9: Jason Cox of Van Buren
  • District 10: Jayson Peppas of Alma
  • District 11: Kevin Bell of Alma
  • District 12: Donna Staton of Dyer
  • District 13: Steven Johnson of Mountainburg
Additionally, the townships of Crawford County are entitled to elect their own respective constables, as set forth by the Constitution of Arkansas. Constables are largely of historical significance as they were used to keep the peace in rural areas when travel was more difficult. The township constables as of the 2024 elections are:
  • District 1: Keith Coatney
  • District 2: Tom Fite
  • District 3: Chase Hall DeCroo
  • District 4: Shyla Tuck
  • District 5: Joshua Baker
  • District 8: Randy Beck
  • District 9: Tommy Buckner
  • District 10: Shawn Shelton
  • District 11: Dennis P. Shore
  • District 12: Christian Martin
  • District 13: John Parette

Politics

Crawford County is a longtime Republican stronghold, so much so that not even former governor and native Arkansan Bill Clinton was able to carry it in either of his presidential victories. The last Democrat to carry this county was Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated places

Unincorporated community

Townships