Monroe County, Arkansas

Monroe County
County
Monroe County Courthouse in Clarendon
Location within the U.S. state of Arkansas
Arkansas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 34°42′48″N 91°13′20″W / 34.713333333333°N 91.222222222222°W / 34.713333333333; -91.222222222222
Country	United States
State	Arkansas
Founded	November 2, 1829
Named for	James Monroe[1]
Seat	Clarendon
Largest city	Brinkley
Area
• Total	621 sq mi (1,610 km2)
• Land	607 sq mi (1,570 km2)
• Water	14 sq mi (40 km2)  2.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	6,799
• Density	11/sq mi (4.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st

Monroe County is located in the Arkansas Delta in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The county is named for James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States. Created as Arkansas's 20th county on November 2, 1829, Monroe County is home to two incorporated towns and three incorporated cities, including Clarendon, the county seat, and Brinkley, the most populous city. The county is also the site of numerous unincorporated communities and ghost towns.

Occupying only 621 square miles (161,000 ha), Monroe County is the 22nd smallest county in Arkansas. As of the 2020 Census, the county's population was 6,799.^[2] Based on population, the county is the fifth-smallest county of the 75 in Arkansas.^[3] Located in the Arkansas Delta, the county is largely flat with fertile soils. Historically covered in forest, bayous, swamps, and grasslands, the area was cleared for agriculture by early European-American settlers who used enslaved African Americans to do the work and to cultivate cotton. It is drained by the Cache River, Bayou DeView, and the White River. Three large protected areas preserve old growth bald cypress forest, sloughs and wildlife habitat in the county: Cache River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Dagmar Wildlife Management Area and White River NWR and provide places for hunting and fishing.

Interstate 40 is the only Interstate highway in Monroe County, crossing the county from east to west through Brinkley, the largest city. The county also has three United States highways (U.S. Route 49 [US 49], US 70, and US 79) and twelve Arkansas state highways run in the county. A Union Pacific Railroad line crosses the county from southwest to northeast.^[4]