Craighead County, Arkansas

Craighead County is a located in the  of. As of the, the population was 82,148. It is included in the. Craighead County is Arkansas's 58th county, formed on, and named for state Senator Thomas Craighead. The county has two s — and. It is one of several within the state of Arkansas, in which the sale of alcoholic beverages is largely prohibited.

History
Craighead County was part of the territory claimed by on   by  who laid claim to all of the land drained by the  and its assorted tributaries. LaSalle's claim was named in honor of, King of.

In the  was signed between  and  and ownership of the  territory west of the  was transferred to the Spanish crown as a result of the  and Craighead County became a Spanish possession.

remained in control of the territory encompassing the county until  when  forced  to return the lost territories to  under the. maintained grandiose plans to establish a vast French Empire in but the  prevented him from transferring troops or settlers to the acquired territories.

Fear was high in the that  would attempt to close the  to American trade. President inquired about purchasing an area near the mouth of the river to ensure that it would stay open to American goods. , having realized that his plans could not come to fruition, offered to sell the the entire territory of Louisiana, including Craighead County, for $15,000,000.

The treaty was finalized in and the land that would become Craighead County became the possession of the.

Craighead County remained in the until the State of Louisiana was admitted to the Union. At that time the territory that includes modern day was attached to the.

In the area was included in a new political subdivision known as Arkansas County which was a political subdivision of the Arkansas District of the Territory of Missouri. In the county was further subdivided and  was formed with its seat at Davidsonville. This new county included most of what is now northern Arkansas. The modern Craighead county lay partially within Arkansas County and partially within Lawrence County.

Residents of the soon began petitioning Congress for admission to the Union. Their request did not include the District of Arkansas and Arkansas residents petitioned for separate territorial status for their district. In the  was formed.

In  was formed and included most of present day Craighead County. This situation persisted until when residents of the area complained about the distance to the Poinsett County seat.

In State Senator William A. Jones campaign platform included a promise to seek the formation of a new county for the area. His election was successful and helped push legislation for the formation of the new county.

The new county was to be formed from lands taken from, , and and would be named "Crowley County" in honor of  which runs through the center of the county.

Senator Thomas Craighead represented Mississippi County, and opposed the bill because the farmland it took from Mississippi County (commonly known as the Buffalo Island area) was a major source of property taxes for the county.

One day while Senator Craighead was away from the floor, Senator Jones amended the bill to change the county's name to "Craighead County". The Senate, thinking it was a compromise, approved the bill as amended; by the time Senator Craighead returned, the bill had already left the Senate, and he took no further action.

Craighead County was officially formed ; in gratitude, the citizens then named the main county seat Jonesboro, for Senator Jones. (Some sources say the name was actually proposed by Senator Craighead in a resolution.) Lake City, just across the St. Francis River from the Buffalo Island area, was added as a second county seat in 1883.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,847 (713 ). 1,841 km² (711 sq mi) of it is land and 6 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.30%) is water. is the county's most prominent geological feature.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 82,148 people, 32,301 households, and 22,093 families residing in the county. The was 45/km² (116/sq mi). There were 35,133 housing units at an average density of 19/km² (49/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.27%, 7.78% or , 0.33% , 0.60% , 0.02% , 0.93% from , and 1.06% from two or more races. 2.12% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 32,301 households out of which 32.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.30% were living together, 11.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.60% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 14.00% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 93.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,425, and the median income for a family was $40,688. Males had a median income of $30,366 versus $21,109 for females. The for the county was $17,091. About 11.60% of families and 15.40% of the population were below the, including 19.40% of those under age 18 and 13.40% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns
The official animal of Craighead County is the mosquito, which occurs in large numbers