Izard County () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,577. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Izard County is Arkansas's 13th county, formed on October 27, 1825, and named for

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

General and Arkansas Territorial Governor George Izard. It is an alcohol prohibition or

dry county In the United States, a dry county is a county whose local government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. The vast majority of counties n ...

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water.

Major highways

Arkansas Highway 5 Arkansas Highway 5 (AR 5) is a designation for three List of state highways in Arkansas, state highways in Arkansas. The southern segment of runs from U.S. Route 70 in Arkansas, U.S. Route 70 (US 70) east of Hot Springs, Arkansas, Hot Springs ...

* Arkansas Highway 9 * Arkansas Highway 56 * Arkansas Highway 58 * Arkansas Highway 69 * Arkansas Highway 69 Business *

Arkansas Highway 177 Highway 177 (AR 177, Ark. 177, and Hwy. 177) is a north–south state highway that runs in north central Arkansas. The route runs from Herron north over the Norfork Dam, then south to Pineville. Route description AR 177 begins in Herron an ...

* Arkansas Highway 223 * Arkansas Highway 289 * Arkansas Highway 354

Adjacent counties

* Fulton County (north) * Sharp County (east) * Independence County (southeast) * Stone County (southwest) * Baxter County (northwest)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 13,577 people, 4,851 households, and 3,124 families residing in the county.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 13,249 people, 5,440 households, and 3,769 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 6,591 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.41%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.44%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.63% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.26% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. 1.00% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 5,440 households, out of which 25.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.70% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.78. In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.90% under the age of 18, 7.10% from 18 to 24, 25.00% from 25 to 44, 25.80% from 45 to 64, and 21.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 102.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $25,670, and the median income for a family was $32,313. Males had a median income of $22,389 versus $18,450 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $14,397. About 13.60% of families and 17.20% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 22.40% of those under age 18 and 13.70% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The county government is a constitutional body granted specific powers by the

Constitution of Arkansas The Constitution of Arkansas is the Constitution, primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Arkansas delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the Politics and government of Arkansas, state government. Arkansas' original ...

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 Izard County Quorum Court has nine members. Presiding over quorum court meetings is the county judge, who serves as the chief executive 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 after the 2024 elections is 8 Republicans and 1 Independent. Justices of the Peace (members) of the Quorum Court following the elections are: * District 1: Mark Simino (R) * District 2: Kelly Hatman (R) * District 3: Randy "Hank" Sherrell (R) * District 4: Frances L. Syce (R) * District 5: John David Miller (I) * District 6: Justin Thornton (R) * District 7: Quillen P. Edwards (R) * District 8: Doug Harber (R) * District 9: Richard "Rich" Emmens (R) Additionally, the townships of Izard County are entitled to elect their own respective constables, as set forth by the

. 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: * Jefferson: Kent Andrews (R) * New Hope: Brett Stevenson (R) * Pleasant Hill: John Mark Rogers (R) * Strawberry: Ian Ward (R) * Union: Mark A. Stephen (R)

Politics

Over the past few election cycles Izard County has trended heavily towards the GOP. The last Democrat (as of 2024) to carry this county was

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

in 2000.

Communities

Cities

* Calico Rock * Horseshoe Bend *

(county seat) *

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Towns

* Franklin * Guion * Mount Pleasant * Pineville

Census-designated places

* Mount Olive * Violet Hill

Unincorporated communities

* Brockwell * Dolph * Forty Four * Gid *

Jumbo Jumbo (December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and then tr ...

LaCrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

* Lunenburg * Sage * Sylamore * Wideman * Wiseman *

Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...

Townships

Izard County Arkansas 2010 Township Map large

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

(small parts of Horseshoe Bend and

) * Barren Fork (part of Mount Pleasant) * Big Spring * Bryan * Claiborne (small part of Calico Rock) * Drytown (part of Mount Pleasant) * Franklin (most of Franklin, small part of Horseshoe Bend) * Gid * Guion ( Guion) * Guthrie * Jefferson (most of Horseshoe Bend, small part of Franklin) *

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

(part of

) * Lafferty * Lunenberg * Mill Creek (most of

) * Mount Olive * Newburg (small part of

) * New Hope (most of

) * Pleasant Hill * Sage (part of

) *

Strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

* Union ( Pineville, most of Calico Rock) * Violet Hill * White River Source:

Notable people

* Terry Shell, lawyer and judge, served as

United States federal judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. S ...

in Arkansas from 1975 to 1978

References

External links

Map of Izard County from the U. S. Census Bureau
{{Coord, 36, 6, N, 91, 54, W, region:US-AR_type:adm2nd_source:dewiki, display=title 1825 establishments in Arkansas Territory Populated places established in 1825

Geography

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2020 census

2000 census

Government

Government

Politics

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Townships

Notable people

See also

References

External links