Familypedia
Register
Advertisement
This article is based on the corresponding article in another wiki. For Familypedia purposes, it requires significantly more historical detail on phases of this location's development. The ideal article for a place will give the reader a feel for what it was like to live at that location at the time their relatives were alive there. Also desirable are links to organizations that may be repositories of genealogical information..
Please help to improve this page yourself if you can.


Yell County, Arkansas
Yell County Courthouse 001
Yell County Courthouse, Dardanelle
Map of Arkansas highlighting Yell County
Location in the state of Arkansas
Map of the U.S
Arkansas's location in the U.S.
Founded December 5, 1840
Named for Archibald Yell
Seat Danville (western district);
Dardanelle (eastern district)
Largest city Dardanelle
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

949 sq mi (2,458 km²)
930 sq mi (2,409 km²)
19 sq mi (49 km²), 2.0%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

20,263
Congressional district 4th
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website yellcounty.net

Yell County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,263.[1] The county has two county seats, Dardanelle and Danville.[2] 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.

This is an alcohol prohibition or dry county. Yell County is part of the Russellville, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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 Jean rivers.[3] 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 river-bottom lands. In 1822, the Council Oaks Treaty meeting was held under two large oak trees, reestablishing Cherokee title of 3.2 million acres (Template:Convert/e6ha) north of the Arkansas River, which was previously granted to them in 1817 in exchange for their removing north of the river. The Cherokee who remained south of the river became known as the "Black Dutch", and largely assimilated.[4]

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 (present-day Oklahoma).

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 949 square miles (2,460 km2), of which 930 square miles (2,400 km2) is land and 19 square miles (49 km2) (2.0%) is water.[5]

Adjacent counties[]

National protected areas[]

  • Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge (part)
  • Ouachita National Forest (part)
  • Ozark National Forest (part)

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1850 3,341
1860 6,333 89.6%
1870 8,048 27.1%
1880 13,852 72.1%
1890 18,015 30.1%
1900 22,750 26.3%
1910 26,323 15.7%
1920 25,655 −2.5%
1930 21,313 −16.9%
1940 20,970 −1.6%
1950 14,057 −33.0%
1960 11,940 −15.1%
1970 14,208 19.0%
1980 17,026 19.8%
1990 17,759 4.3%
2000 21,139 19.0%
2010 22,185 4.9%
Est. 2021 20,155 [1] −4.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790–1960[7] 1900–1990[8]
1990–2000[9] 2010[1] 2020 [1]
USA Yell County, Arkansas age pyramid

Age pyramid Yell County[10]

2020 census[]

Yell County racial composition[11]
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 14,710 72.6%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 226 1.12%
Native American 111 0.55%
Asian 202 1.0%
Pacific Islander 11 0.05%
Other/Mixed 799 3.94%
Hispanic or Latino 4,204 20.75%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 20,263 people, 7,503 households, and 5,542 families residing in the county.

2000 census[]

As of the 2000 census,[12] there were 21,139 people, 7,922 households, and 5,814 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile (9/km2). There were 9,157 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile (4/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 86.63% White, 1.47% Black or 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. 12.73% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 12.00% reported speaking Spanish at home.[13]

There were 7,922 households, out of which 33.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.50% were married couples living together, 10.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.60% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.80% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 22.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,916, and the median income 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 11.70% of families and 15.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 12.80% of those age 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 Heath Tate. Tate was appointed by the Yell County Quorum Court in March of 2022 and began his appointment April 1, 2022.[14]

The chief officer of the law in Yell County, as in all Arkansas counties, is the sheriff.

Culture and contemporary life[]


Photo of a stately one and a half-story craftsman-style home sits among mature trees behind a manicured lawn
Photo of a blue one-story dogtrot-style house with enclosed breezeway sits behind overgrown trees, shrubs and grass
Two homes listed on the NRHP in Yell County: the Thomas James Cotton House in Dardanelle (left) and the Mitchell House in rural Waltreak

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".Gleason|2017|p=_20-16|[16] 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.Gleason|2017|p=_20-16|[16] 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.[17] 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.[18]

Government[]

Yell County Courthouse 002

Yell County Eastern District Courthouse in Dardanelle

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.[19] 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.[20][21] Though Yell County has two county seats, the constitutional officers are not duplicated, with duties split between the two courthouses.

Politics[]

Over the past few election cycles Yell county has trended heavily towards the GOP. The last Democratic presidential candidate (as of 2020) to carry this county was Bill Clinton in 1996.

United States presidential election results for Yell County, Arkansas[22]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 5,226 77.53% 1,284 19.05% 231 3.43%
2016 4,608 71.56% 1,480 22.98% 351 5.45%
2012 4,042 67.66% 1,722 28.82% 210 3.52%
2008 3,808 63.09% 2,003 33.18% 225 3.73%
2004 3,678 55.23% 2,913 43.75% 68 1.02%
2000 3,223 49.75% 3,062 47.26% 194 2.99%
1996 2,111 31.77% 3,749 56.43% 784 11.80%
1992 2,506 32.79% 4,165 54.49% 972 12.72%
1988 3,535 55.84% 2,763 43.64% 33 0.52%
1984 4,051 59.56% 2,679 39.39% 72 1.06%
1980 3,187 44.65% 3,702 51.87% 248 3.47%
1976 1,932 25.04% 5,785 74.96% 0 0.00%
1972 3,310 66.48% 1,669 33.52% 0 0.00%
1968 1,819 34.44% 1,513 28.65% 1,949 36.91%
1964 1,527 30.86% 3,407 68.86% 14 0.28%
1960 1,303 37.96% 2,008 58.49% 122 3.55%
1956 1,381 40.70% 2,008 59.18% 4 0.12%
1952 1,243 39.54% 1,884 59.92% 17 0.54%
1948 408 16.85% 1,866 77.08% 147 6.07%
1944 489 22.94% 1,642 77.02% 1 0.05%
1940 224 9.08% 2,236 90.64% 7 0.28%
1936 318 11.78% 2,382 88.22% 0 0.00%
1932 272 11.88% 2,010 87.77% 8 0.35%
1928 802 27.65% 2,086 71.91% 13 0.45%
1924 334 19.15% 1,314 75.34% 96 5.50%
1920 1,042 34.21% 1,925 63.20% 79 2.59%
1916 781 27.12% 2,099 72.88% 0 0.00%
1912 436 17.18% 1,401 55.20% 701 27.62%
1908 1,040 34.70% 1,743 58.16% 214 7.14%
1904 913 44.32% 1,079 52.38% 68 3.30%
1900 798 33.73% 1,554 65.68% 14 0.59%
1896 812 26.32% 2,261 73.29% 12 0.39%
1892 600 23.90% 1,761 70.16% 149 5.94%



Education[]

Public education[]

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

  • Danville School District
  • Dardanelle School District
  • Two Rivers School District—formed in 2004 by the consolidation of the former Fourche Valley School District, Ola School District, Perry–Casa School District, and Plainview–Rover School District.
  • Western Yell County School District—formed in 1985 by the consolidation of the former Belleville School District and Havana School District.

Dissolved school districts[]

  • Fourche Valley School District
  • Ola School District
  • Perry–Casa School District
  • Plainview-Rover School District
  • Havana School District
  • Belleville School District
  • Carden Bottoms School District

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[]

  • Belleville
  • Danville (county seat)
  • Dardanelle (county seat)
  • Havana
  • Ola
  • Plainview

Towns[]

  • Corinth

Census-designated places[]

  • Centerville
  • Rover

Unincorporated communities[]

  • Alpha
  • Aly
  • Ard
  • Bluffton
  • Briggsville
  • Chickalah
  • Goodie Gorn Creek
  • Gravelly
  • Mount George
  • New Neely
  • Onyx
  • Pleasant Hill
  • Shark
  • Sulphur Springs
  • Wing

Townships[]

Townships in Arkansas are the divisions of a county. Each township includes unincorporated areas and some may have incorporated towns or cities within part of their space. Townships have limited purposes in modern times. However, the US Census does list Arkansas population based on townships (often referred to as "minor civil divisions"). Townships are also of value for historical purposes in terms of genealogical research. Each town or city is within one or more townships in an Arkansas county based on census maps. The townships of Yell County are listed below with the town(s) and/or city that are fully or partially inside them listed in parentheses.


[23][24]

  • Birta
  • Bluffton
  • Briggsville
  • Centerville
  • Chula
  • Compton
  • Crawford
  • Danville (Corinth, Danville)
  • Dardanelle (Dardanelle)
  • Dutch Creek
  • Ferguson (Belleville)
  • Galla Rock
  • Gilkey
  • Gravelly Hill
  • Herring
  • Ions Creek
  • Lamar (Plainview)
  • Magazine
  • Mason
  • Mountain
  • Prairie
  • Richland
  • Riley (Havana)
  • Rover
  • Sulphur Springs
  • Ward (Ola)
  • Waveland

Infrastructure[]

Major highways[]

  • Arkansas 7 Highway 7
  • Arkansas 10 Highway 10
  • Arkansas 27 Highway 27
  • Arkansas 28 Highway 28
  • Arkansas 60 Highway 60
  • Arkansas 80 Highway 80
  • Arkansas 154 Highway 154

Notable people[]

  • Ray R. Allen (1920–2010), public official in Alexandria, Louisiana, was born in Yell County.
  • John Daly, professional golfer
  • Arthur Hunnicutt, Academy Award-nominated Western Actor
  • Kelly Ring, WTVT news anchor
  • Johnny Sain, Major League Baseball player
  • William L. Spicer, Republican state chairman, 1962–1964, was born in Yell County, but owned a chain of drive-in theaters in Fort Smith.
  • Cousins Jim Walkup (left-handed pitcher), and Jim Walkup (right-handed pitcher), MLB pitchers
  • James Lee Witt, former FEMA Director
  • Henry C. Bruton, Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, born in Belleville, Arkansas in 1905
  • Jacob Lofland, American actor
  • Timothy Balarabe, jazz musician.

Trivia[]

  • In the novel (and two movies) True Grit, the heroine Mattie Ross is from near Dardanelle in Yell County.
  • First Sergeant William Ellis of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor and bravery above and beyond the call of duty at Dardanelle. At 10 a.m. on January 14, 1865, approximately 1,500 Confederates attacked the Union forces entrenched on the outskirts of the town and a fierce four-hour battle was waged. In the end Confederate Colonel William H. Brooks was unable to overcome the Union defenders of the town and was forced to retreat. It was during this battle that Ellis held his position even after receiving three wounds and would not withdraw for medical attention until he received a fourth wound and was ordered to retire by his commanding officer.

See also[]

  • List of lakes in Yell County, Arkansas
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Yell County, Arkansas

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "QuickFacts, Yell County, Arkansas; United States". https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/yellcountyarkansas,US/PST045221. 
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  3. ^ Template:Harvp.
  4. ^ Template:Harvp.
  5. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_05.txt. 
  6. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html. 
  7. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  8. ^ Forstall, Richard L., ed (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ar190090.txt. 
  9. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. 
  10. ^ Based on 2000 census data
  11. ^ "Explore Census Data". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US05149&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2. 
  12. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov. 
  13. ^ "Language Map Data Center". http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&state_id=5&county_id=149&mode=geographic&order=r. 
  14. ^ "Post Page". https://www.kvom.com/news-sports-headlines/tate-appointed-interim-yell-co-sheriff. 
  15. ^ Yell County Court House Records
  16. ^ Gleason|2017|p=_20_16-0|a Gleason|2017|p=_20_16-1|b Template:Harvp.
  17. ^ Template:Harvp.
  18. ^ Template:Harvp.
  19. ^ "Yell County". Little Rock: Arkansas Association of Counties. https://www.arcounties.org/counties/yell/. 
  20. ^ Teske, Steven (March 24, 2014). "Quorum Courts". Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System. http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=6348. Retrieved January 23, 2016. 
  21. ^ Goss, Kay C. (August 28, 2015). "Office of County Judge". Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System. http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=5720. Retrieved January 23, 2016. 
  22. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/. 
  23. ^ U. S. Census Bureau. 2011 Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS): Yell County, AR (Map). http://www2.census.gov/geo/pvs/bas/bas11/st05_ar/cou/c05149_yell/BAS11C20514900000_000.pdf. 
  24. ^ "Arkansas: 2010 Census Block Maps – County Subdivision". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/block/2010/cousub/dc10blk_st05_cousub.html#Y. 
  • Gleason, Mildred Diane (2017). Dardanelle and the Bottoms: Environment, Agriculture, and Economy in an Arkansas River Community, 1819-1970. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 9781682260388. 


External links[]

Coordinates: 34°59′54″N 93°27′09″W / 34.99833, -93.4525


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Yell County, Arkansas. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
Advertisement