Phillips County, Arkansas Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Phillips County
U.S. county
Phillips County courthouse in Helena-West Helena
Location within the U.S. state of Arkansas
Arkansas's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Arkansas
Founded	May 1, 1820
Named for	Sylvanus Phillips
Seat	Helena-West Helena
Largest city	Helena-West Helena
Area
• Total	727 sq mi (1,880 km²)
• Land	696 sq mi (1,800 km²)
• Water	32 sq mi (80 km²) 4.4%%
Population (2020)
• Total	16,568
• Estimate (2021)	15,906
• Density	22.790/sq mi (8.799/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st

Phillips County is a county in eastern Arkansas. It's part of the Arkansas Delta, a flat area along the Mississippi River. In 2020, about 16,568 people lived here. The main city and county center is Helena–West Helena.

Phillips County was created on May 1, 1820. It was the seventh county in Arkansas. The county is named after Sylvanus Phillips. He was one of the first European-American settlers in the area. He was also elected to the first government of the Arkansas Territory. This area has rich soil and was used for growing cotton. It is still mostly a farming area today.

The city of Helena-West Helena and all of Phillips County are part of a larger statistical area.

History
Geography
Population Data
- 2020 Census Information
- 2010 Census Information
Education
Communities
Notable People
See also

History

A sad event happened in Phillips County from September 30 to October 1, 1919. This was during the Elaine race riot. Many African Americans were harmed by armed white groups. This happened because African American farmers were trying to organize a union to get fair pay for their crops.

Geography

Phillips County covers a total area of about 727 square miles (1,883 square kilometers). Most of this is land, about 696 square miles (1,803 square kilometers). The rest, about 32 square miles (83 square kilometers), is water.

Major Highways

U.S. Highway 49
Highway 1
Highway 39
Highway 85

Neighboring Counties

Phillips County shares borders with these other counties:

Protected Natural Areas

Parts of these national protected areas are found in Phillips County:

St. Francis National Forest
White River National Wildlife Refuge

Population Data

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1830	1,152	—
1840	3,547	207.9%
1850	6,935	95.5%
1860	14,877	114.5%
1870	15,372	3.3%
1880	21,262	38.3%
1890	25,341	19.2%
1900	26,561	4.8%
1910	33,535	26.3%
1920	44,530	32.8%
1930	40,683	−8.6%
1940	45,970	13.0%
1950	46,254	0.6%
1960	43,997	−4.9%
1970	40,046	−9.0%
1980	34,772	−13.2%
1990	28,838	−17.1%
2000	26,445	−8.3%
2010	21,757	−17.7%
2020	16,568	−23.8%
2023 (est.)	14,961	−31.2%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2021

Age pyramid Phillips County

2020 Census Information

In 2020, the census showed that 16,568 people lived in Phillips County. There were 7,485 households and 4,836 families.

Here's a look at the different groups of people living in Phillips County in 2020:

Phillips County Racial Composition
Race	Number	Percent
White	5,541	33.44%
Black or African American	10,305	62.2%
Native American	38	0.23%
Asian	64	0.39%
Pacific Islander	4	0.02%
Other/Mixed	352	2.12%
Hispanic or Latino	264	1.59%

2010 Census Information

According to the 2010 census, 21,757 people lived in the county.

63.1% were Black or African American.
35.0% were White.
0.3% were Asian.
0.2% were Native American.
0.4% were from some other race.
0.9% were of two or more races.
About 1.3% of the people were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

Education

Several school districts serve the students in Phillips County:

Helena-West Helena School District
Marvell–Elaine School District
Barton–Lexa School District

In the past, some school districts merged to form the current ones. For example, the Lake View School District joined with the Barton–Lexa district in 2004. Also, the Elaine School District joined with the Marvell district in 2006.

There is also a private school called Marvell Academy. It was started in 1966 and is located near Marvell, in an unincorporated part of the county.

Communities

Cities

Elaine
Helena–West Helena (This is the county seat, meaning it's the main city for county government.)
Lake View
Marvell

Town

Lexa

Unincorporated Places

These are places that are not officially part of a city or town:

Townships

Townships in Phillips County, Arkansas as of 2010

Phillips County is divided into smaller areas called townships. These are used for local administration. 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 Phillips County are listed below; listed in parentheses are the cities, towns, and/or census-designated places that are fully or partially inside the township.

Notable People

Many interesting people have come from Phillips County:

Bruce Bennett, who was the Arkansas Attorney General.
Barry Williamson, an attorney and a member of the Texas Railroad Commission.
Blanche Lincoln, who served as a U.S. Senator.
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm, a famous drummer and singer for the band called The Band.
Robert Lockwood Jr., a well-known blues guitarist and singer.
Angie Craig, a U.S. Representative from Minnesota.

Phillips County, Arkansas facts for kids

Contents