Franklin County, Arkansas

Franklin County is a located in the  of. It is part of the -. As of, the population is 17,771. The county has two s, and. Franklin County was formed on, and named for , American statesman. To the north of the, which bisects Franklin County, the county is wet and alcohol is sold in liquor stores, bars and local s. To the south of the Arkansas River, the county is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,605 (620 ). 1,579 km² (610 sq mi) of it is land and 26 km² (10 sq mi) of it (1.63%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 17,771 people, 6,882 households, and 4,961 families residing in the county. The was 11/km² (29/sq mi). There were 7,673 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (13/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 96.17%, 0.62% or , 0.80% , 0.26% , 0.06% , 0.74% from , and 1.35% from two or more races. 1.74% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 6,882 households out of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.20% were living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.90% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.80% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 15.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,848, and the median income for a family was $36,189. Males had a median income of $27,907 versus $18,822 for females. The for the county was $14,616. About 10.60% of families and 15.20% of the population were below the, including 16.20% of those under age 18 and 15.70% of those age 65 or over.

History
Franklin County was carved out of Crawford County in December 1837. At that time, Franklin was significantly larger than it is at present, encompassing part of present-day which was formed in 1871.

Initially, the county had a single courthouse at Ozark. Later, after complaints about how difficult it was to cross the river at times, a second courthouse was established at Charleston, sometime in the 1890s.

The reality television show,, starring and  was filmed in  in.