Cross County, Arkansas
Cross County is a rural Northeast Arkansas county in the Arkansas Delta. Created as Arkansas's 53rd county on November 15, 1862, Cross County contains four incorporated municipalities, including Wynne, the county seat and most populous city. It is named for Confederate Colonel David C. Cross, a political leader in the area.
The county is largely flat and fertile, mostly used for row agriculture typical of the rich alluvial soils of the Arkansas Delta. Crowley's Ridge, a forested deposit of loess hills rising from the flat Delta bisects the county from north to south, including part of Wynne and most of Village Creek State Park, the county's primary protected area of ecological value. Historical and cultural features range from Parkin Archeological State Park, which preserves a prehistoric Native American mound building settlement, to the Johnston Cotton Gin marking mechanization of the cotton farm, and the Northern Ohio School, a segregated school built by a lumber company for African-American children of employees.
Cross County occupies 622.33 square miles and contained a population of 16,833 as of the 2020 census. The economy is largely based on agriculture. Poverty and unemployment rates are above national averages, household incomes are below state and national averages.
Cross County is mostly served by two school districts: Cross County School District and Wynne Public Schools. Higher education is provided at the Wynne campus of East Arkansas Community College, a public community college. Crossridge Community Hospital in Wynne is a community hospital providing primary care in the county. Although no Interstate highways serve Cross County, the county has access to two United States highways and thirteen Arkansas state highways. Cross County is also served by one public owned/public use general aviation airport, Wynne Municipal Airport, and seven community water systems provide potable water to customers in the county.
History
Cross County was formed in November 1862 by the Arkansas State Legislature from portions of St. Francis, Crittenden, and Poinsett Counties. The first county seat was Whittsburg, located due east of modern Wynne.In 1882, the first railroad, the Helena & Iron Mountain Railroad, was constructed in Cross County. The line was later bought out by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, & Southern Railroad. In 1903, the county seat was moved to Wynne.
Geography
Cross County is established on the rich, fertile, alluvial soils of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. In Arkansas, this region is called the Arkansas Delta, having a distinct history and culture from adjacent regions. Bisecting the county from north to south is Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anomaly rising from the Delta composed of loess soil and generally remains covered in oak-hickory forest. Today, the majority of the county is used for row agriculture.Roughly the western third of the county is within the Western Lowlands Pleistocene Valley Train subregion of the Delta. This region is characterized as flat windblown deposits of silty, sandy soils, and loess with a high groundwater table. Post oak and loblolly pine are native in the higher elevations, with overcup oak, water hickory, willow oak, and pin oak and pondberry native in wetlands. Today, row agriculture is extensive, with commercial aquaculture also common.
Crowley's Ridge is a series of loess hills more closely associated with the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky than the Delta country surrounding it. Composed of sandy loess stacked on gravel deposits later eroded by streams into ravines, Crowley's Ridge rises from the flat Delta by up to. Crowley's Ridge remains largely wooded with oak-hickory forest or beech–maple forest, with little land in cultivation. Forests are related to the Appalachian cove forests, with post oak, blackjack oak, southern red oak, white oak, beech and sugar maple forest standing in contrast to the southern floodplain forests in the rest of Cross County.
The eastern third of Cross County is split between the Northern Holocene Meander Belts and St. Francis Lowlands, both subregions historically influenced by the Mississippi River. Both regions are flat, poorly drained areas consisting of former river channels, drainageways, and floodplains drained in the late 19th century for settlement and row agriculture. Today consisting of farm fields, channelized drainage ditches, levees, the area is predominantly in soybean and cotton cultivation, with some corn, wheat, rice, and sorghum. Remaining natural areas consist of sugarberry, elm, ash tree, pecan, cottonwood, and sycamores. Sandy "Sunk lands" are attributed to the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes.
Given Cross County's position along the Mississippi Flyway, many natural areas and grain fields serve as wintering ground for water fowl. Duck hunting is popular in the Delta, including Cross County.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It ranks 49th of the 75 Arkansas counties in area.
The county is located approximately south of Jonesboro, west of Memphis, Tennessee, and east of Little Rock. Cross County is surrounded by five other Delta counties: Crittenden County to the east, St. Francis County to the south, Woodruff County to the west, Jackson County to the northwest, and Poinsett County to the north.
Hydrology
Water is an important part of Cross County's geography, history, and culture. Hydraulically, the county is split into two watersheds by Crowley's Ridge, with the eastern half draining to the St. Francis River or its tributaries, and the western half draining to the L'Anguille River.The deep, wide, calm, and navigable St. Francis River has been important for every civilization in Cross County since prehistory. The Casqui tribe settled in the area where the Tyronza River empties into the St. Francis. Today, this settlement is preserved within Parkin Archaeological State Park. Centuries later, European settlers founded Wittsburg as a port city as the northernmost navigable point on the St. Francis a few miles downstream from Parkin, opening the region to regional trade. Within the county, Brushy Creek, Cross County Ditch, Copeland Slough, Prairie Creek, and Village Creek are important watercourses.
Protected areas
The largest protected area in Cross County is Village Creek State Park on Crowley's Ridge near Wynne. The park is known as a large section of preserved forest in its natural state within the Delta, a 27-hole golf course, catfish and bass fishing in the two lakes, horseback riding trails, and a hiking trail along the former Memphis to Little Rock Military Road. The Parkin Archeological State Park in Parkin preserves a prehistoric Native American mound building settlement.The Brushy Creek Wildlife Management Area is a small property reforested in bottomland hardwood forest by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission near Hickory Ridge. The Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission maintains the Wittsburg Natural Area as natural Crowley's Ridge habitat, but there is no legal public access to the area.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 16,833. The median age was 41.0 years. 24.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.0 males age 18 and over.The racial makeup of the county was 72.6% White, 21.7% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.9% from some other race, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.1% of the population.
44.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 55.1% lived in rural areas.
There were 6,711 households in the county, of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.8% were married-couple households, 18.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 7,585 housing units, of which 11.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 66.2% were owner-occupied and 33.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.1%.
2000 census
At the 2000 census, there were 19,526 people, 7,391 household, and 5,447 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 8,030 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 74.80% White, 23.70% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. 0.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.There were 7,391 households, of which 34.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% were married couples living together, 14.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.30% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.07.
27.80% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.40 males.
The median household income was $29,362 and the median family income was $34,044. Males had a median income of $27,880 and females $20,133. The per capita income for the county was $15,726. About 16.40% of families and 19.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.90% of those under age 18 and 17.50% of those age 65 or over.