Miller County, Arkansas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Miller County
County
County of Miller
Miller County Courthouse in Texarkana
Location within the U.S. state of Arkansas
Arkansas's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Arkansas
Founded	April 1, 1820; recreated December 22, 1874, following abolishment in 1838
Named for	James Miller
Seat	Texarkana
Largest city	Texarkana
Area
• Total	637.48 sq mi (1,651.1 km2)
• Land	623.98 sq mi (1,616.1 km2)
• Water	13.5 sq mi (35 km2)  2.1%%
Population  (2010)
• Total	43,462
• Estimate  (2019)	43,257
• Density	68.1778/sq mi (26.3236/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	4th

Miller County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,462. The county seat is Texarkana.

Miller County is part of the Texarkana, TX-AR, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

When first formed, Miller County was Arkansas's sixth county, established on April 1, 1820, and named for James Miller, the first governor of the Arkansas Territory. Additionally, Miller County was the first of the state's counties to be formed upon the creation of the Arkansas Territory. The first five — Arkansas, Lawrence, Clark, Hempstead and Pulaski — were formed during Arkansas's days as part of the Missouri Territory. This county was abolished in 1838.

During the Reconstruction era, it was organized again on December 22, 1874 from a portion of neighboring Lafayette County.

History

Miller County was originally created in 1820 and included most of the current Miller County as well as most of what are now counties in Texas: Bowie, Red River, Lamar, Fannin, Cass, Morris, Titus, Franklin, Hopkins, Delta, and Hunt. In 1831 the county seat was located what is the current day Clarksville, Texas. When Arkansas achieved statehood the same year Texas declared itself an independent republic in 1836 a dispute over the common border arose, with the area in Miller County having representation in both the Arkansas legislature and the Texas congress. In 1837 and 1838, Texas organized Red River and Fannin counties, respectively, in the area. Arkansas attempted to counter by making it a misdemeanor for Miller County residents to hold office in Texas, and then by establishing a county court in Fannin. The attempts were ultimately unsuccessful, and in 1845 Texas was annexed by the United States, settling the boundary between Texas and Arkansas. As much of Miller County was lost to Texas, the county was dissolved with the remaining territory returning to Lafayette County.

The modern Miller County was re-created in 1874 from the parts of Lafayette County lying west and south of the Red River.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 638 square miles (1,650 km²), of which 626 square miles (1,620 km²) is land and 12 square miles (31 km²) (1.9%) is water.

Major highways

• I-30
• I-49
• US 59
• US 67
• US 71
• US 82
• AR 108
• AR 151
• AR 237

Adjacent counties

• Little River County (north)
• Hempstead County (northeast)
• Lafayette County (east)
• Bossier Parish, Louisiana (southeast)
• Caddo Parish, Louisiana (south)
• Cass County, Texas (southwest)
• Bowie County, Texas (west)

Demographics

2020 Census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 42,600 people, 16,426 households, and 11,108 families residing in the county.

2010 Census

Racial/Ethnic Makeup of Miller County treating Hispanics as a Separate Category (2010)      White Non-Hispanic (70.6%)     Black Non-Hispanic (24.4%)     Native American Non-Hispanic (0.6%)     Asian Non-Hispanic (0.5%)     Pacific Islander Non-Hispanic (0.0%)     Other Non-Hispanic (0.1%)     Two or more races Non-Hispanic (1.4%)     Hispanic Any Race (2.4%)

As of the 2010 census, there were 43,462 people, 17,219 households, and 11,685 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile (26/km²). There were 19,281 housing units at an average density of 30 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.6% White, 24.5% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.0% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. 2.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 11,685 households, out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were married couples living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.2 years. For every 100 females there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.6 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,307, and the median income for a family was $47,960. Males had a median income of $41,556 versus $30,417 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,654. About 14.1% of families and 18.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.1% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

• Texarkana (county seat)

Towns

• Fouke
• Garland

Unincorporated communities

• Doddridge
• Genoa

Townships

Townships in Arkansas are the divisions of a county. Each township includes unincorporated areas; some may have incorporated cities or towns within part of their boundaries. Arkansas townships have limited purposes in modern times. However, the United States Census does list Arkansas population based on townships (sometimes referred to as "county subdivisions" or "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 and publications. The townships of Miller County are listed below; listed in parentheses are the cities, towns, and/or census-designated places that are fully or partially inside the township.

• Beech (Fouke)
• Cleveland
• Cut Off
• Days Creek
• Garland (Texarkana)
• Homan
• Red River (Garland)
• Sulphur

Infrastructure

Major highways

Utilities

The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) is responsible for the regulation and oversight of public water systems throughout the state. Miller County contains six community water systems: Texarkana Water Utilities (TWU), Fouke Waterworks, Miller County Public Water Authority (PWA), Garland Waterworks, Eastern Cass Water Supply Corporation, and Shady Acres Mobile Home Park. TWU, a joint department between the two Texarkana municipalities, provides drinking water and fire flows on both sides of the state line, including several partner cities in Texas. Its source waters are Lake Millwood in Arkansas and Lake Wright Patman in Texas. Miller County PWA purchases water from TWU, and has the same executive director as of February 2018. The remaining systems have retail populations served under 1,000, and are groundwater systems.

Images for kids

• 

  Public school district boundaries in Miller County as of July 2016

• 

  The Texarkana Department of district court is held at the Bi-State Justice Building at 100 State Line Avenue

• 

  The Kiblah School served the Kiblah area from 1927 until 1949

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Miller (Arkansas) para niños