Yell County, Arkansas


Yell County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,263. The county has two county seats, Dardanelle and Danville. Yell County is Arkansas's 42nd county, formed on December 5, 1840, from portions of Scott and Pope Counties. It was named after Archibald Yell, who was the state's first member of the United States House of Representatives and the second governor of Arkansas. He died in combat at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican–American War. Yell County is part of the Russellville micropolitan statistical area. Yell County is a dry county, as alcohol is prohibited.
WWW yellcounty.net

History

Native Americans first inhabited present-day Yell County and the Arkansas River Valley for thousands of years prior to European colonization. They used the open, fertile floodplain of the Arkansas River for hunting grounds and later farming settlements. During the Thomas Jefferson and Indian Removal era, many Cherokee were voluntarily relocating from Georgia along the Arkansas River, including in Yell County, between 1775 and 1786. A large Cherokee reservation across the Arkansas River from Yell County was established in 1815 to encourage further voluntary relocation from Georgia.
The area presently encompassed as Yell County was first settled by European settlers when James Carden built a house in 1819 among Cherokee farms in the Dardanelle Bottoms, at the confluence of the Arkansas and Petit Jeans. Lands south of the Arkansas River had been deeded to the Choctaw in the 1820s when they removed from their homelands east of the Mississippi River, but White settlement and Cherokee relocation continued apace into the 1820s. The peoples competed over the prime riverbottom lands.
In June 1823, a meeting between numerous Cherokee chiefs and acting Territorial Governor Robert Crittenden was held under two large oak trees. Long believed by many to result in a "Council Oaks Treaty" re-establishing Cherokee title of north of the Arkansas River, Crittenden had no treaty-making authority, and the meeting ended with no agreement other than each party sending separate letters to Secretary of War John C. Calhoun.
Some Cherokee remained on their farms south of the river, the group identifying itself as Black Dutch, intermarrying and assimilating with the area's White settlers.
In 1830, the United States Congress enacted the Indian Removal Act, leading to further, forcible Cherokee settlement from the Southeast into the Arkansas River Valley. Cherokee, Muskogee (Creek), and Seminole were forcibly removed along the Trail of Tears through Yell County to Indian Territory.
Yell County was taken by Union forces in the Civil War in October 1862. A Confederate force of about 1,500 men tried to retake Dardanelle in January 1865, failing after a four-hour battle. First Sergeant William Ellis of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry received a Medal of Honor for holding his position despite multiple wounds.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which are covered by water.

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 20,263. The median age was 40.3 years. 24.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.1 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 75.7% White, 1.2% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 12.5% from some other race, and 8.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 20.7% of the population.
19.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 80.7% lived in rural areas.
There were 7,722 households in the county, of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.2% were married-couple households, 19.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 9,246 housing units, of which 16.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 72.0% were owner-occupied and 28.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.6%.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, 21,139 people, 7,922 households, and 5,814 families lived in the county. The population density was. The 9,157 housing units had an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 86.63% White, 1.47% African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.69% Asian, 0.03%Pacific Islander, 8.99% from other races, and 1.62% from two or more races. About 12.73% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. Around 12.00% reported speaking Spanish at home.
Of the 7,922 households, 33.6% had children under 18 living with them, 58.5% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were not families. About 23.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the county, the age distribution was 25.8% under 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 96.3 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $28,916, and for a family was $33,409. Males had a median income of $23,172 versus $18,148 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,383. About 11.7% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under 18 and 12.8% of those 65 or over.

Human resources

Public safety

The Yell County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency in the county. The agency is led by the Yell County sheriff, an official elected by countywide vote every four years. Police departments in Dardanelle, Danville, and Ola provide law enforcement in their respective jurisdictions, with Bellville, Havana, and Plainview contracting with the Sheriff's Office for law enforcement services.
The current sheriff of Yell County is Nick Gault. He was elected to office in the 2022 general election. The chief officer of the law in Yell County, as in all Arkansas counties, is the sheriff.
NameYear electedYear leftTotal learsNotable accomplishments
Theodore P Sadler184018466
S. Kirkpatrick184618526
Joseph Garrett185218542
J. C. Herin185418562
Joseph Gault185618626
Lorenzo Free186218631
O. Wood186318641
William Henry Ferguson186418717
Jesse George187118721
J. A. Wilson187218742
Reuben E. Cole187418806
Levi L. Briggs188018822
Joseph L. Davis188218864
H. B. McCarrell188618904
Joseph Haston Howard189018922
Sam Gordon Albright189218964
B. H. Burnett189619006
James M. Cole190019044
William Franklin Briggs190419062
William L. Tatum190619104
Theodore Riley Gault191019144
Will T. Caviness191419195
J. N. George191919234
Joe D. Gault192319263
Baxter Gatlin192719303
Buford Compton1931194615
Earl E Lad194719569
Herman D. McCormick1957196811
Carlos Mitchell196919767
  • Construction of the old Danville Jail
  • Construction of the old Dardanelle Jail
    • Hartsell Lewis197719781
    Denver Dennis197919889
    Mike May198919923
    Loyd W. Maughn199319985
  • Construction of Juvenile Detention Center
    • Bill Gilkey1999March 31, 202223 Years 3 Months
  • Construction of New Law Enforcement Center and Jail
  • Longest serving sheriff in Yell Count
  • Longest current serving sheriff in Arkansas
    • In 2017, he became the longest currently serving sheriff in Arkansas, after 19 years in the office. He is also the longest-serving sheriff in the county's history. Gilkey has sat on state boards such as the Arkansas Crime Lab Board and Arkansas Act 309 Board.
    Gilkey is credited with the creation of the Yell County Law Enforcement Center in 2016, which replaced two of the county's older jails that did not meet state standards, and houses the sheriff's office. The new building also houses CID offices, revenue office, and an updated E911 dispatch center.
    Heath TateApril 1, 2022December 20229 Months
    • Interim sheriff after Gilkey's retirement in March 2022.
    Nick Gault2023Present-

    Culture and contemporary life

    Yell County has several historical homes, structures, and monuments dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the area. The Dardanelle Commercial Historic District preserves the historic commercial hub of Yell County along the Arkansas River. The Mt. Nebo State Park Cabins Historic District preserves ten cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The county also has seven homes, three churches, and two bridges listed on the NRHP.
    Upon settlement, Yell County's varied topography created a stratified society, splitting settlers between the more fertile and productive farms of the "lowlands" and the subsistence farming of the steep and less-productive mountain soil of the "uplands". A planter class emerged in the lowlands, and as Dardanelle evolved into a cohesive community, the large landowners moved to town and managed their landholdings from stately homes, similar to the model seen in the Arkansas Delta and the Mississippi Delta. This left the lowlands inhabited largely by poor sharecroppers and tenant farmers, who largely shared economic fortunes with the small farms in the uplands, shifting the "upland/lowland" split to a "town-country" divide based largely on economics.
    As mechanization and society evolved and Arkansas became less of a frontier, a wealthy upper class emerged in Dardanelle that came to wield societal, political, and economic power in the county. This society remained relatively closed, with separate social events and often summering on Mount Nebo with other wealthy Arkansans visiting to enjoy the cool mountain breezes. With little of the industrialization that defined the Gilded Age in the Northeast and Midwest, Yell County instead retained an adjusted Old South economic model based on agriculture but adapted to a post-Reconstruction reality.

    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 Yell County Quorum Court has eleven 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. Though Yell County has two county seats, the constitutional officers are not duplicated, with duties split between the two courthouses.
    PositionOfficeholderParty
    County JudgeJeff GilkeyRepublican
    County/Circuit ClerkAnna WardRepublican
    SheriffNick GaultRepublican
    TreasurerDebra CraigRepublican
    CollectorChristie DavisRepublican
    AssessorSherry HicksRepublican
    CoronerTel Millard

    The composition of the Quorum Court following the 2024 elections is 11 Republicans. Justices of the Peace of the Quorum Court following the elections are:
    • District 1: Brent Montgomery
    • District 2: Greg Dixon
    • District 3: Richard Padgett
    • District 4: Steven Payton
    • District 5: Robert Caldwell
    • District 6: Mike Taylor
    • District 7: James Brown
    • District 8: Carl Cross
    • District 9: Jeffrey Lewis
    • District 10: Tony Sigle
    • District 11: Jimmy Davenport
    Additionally, the townships of Johnson 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:
    • Crawford: William H. Gossett Jr.
    • Danville: Bradley Apple
    • Dardanelle: Gary Dennis
    • Ferguson: Kenneth Jackson
    • Magazine 1: Marty Weatherford
    • Riley: David Campbell
    • Ward: Ritchie Tippin

    Politics

    Over the past few election cycles Yell County has trended heavily towards the GOP. The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry this county was native Arkansan Bill Clinton in 1996.

    Education

    Public education

    Early childhood, elementary and secondary education within Yell County is provided by four public school districts:

    Dissolved school districts

    Public libraries

    The Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System, is headquartered in Dardanelle and serves multiple counties and consists of one central library and six branch libraries, including the Yell County Library, a branch library in Danville.

    Communities

    Cities

    Town

    Census-designated places

    Unincorporated communities

    Townships

    Infrastructure

    Major highways

    Notable people