Arkansas is divided into political subdivisions or administrative districts called counties. Today, the state contains seventy-five counties, but only five existed at the time of Arkansas Territory’s establishment in 1819: Arkansas (1813), Lawrence (1815), Clark (1818), Hempstead (1818), and Pulaski (1818).

Those five original counties were geographically large and sparsely populated. As the new territory’s population grew, additional counties were created from the original five through subdivision and realignment. The final county to be established was Cleburne, in 1883, although a few boundary changes have occurred since that time. Each county’s center of government is called a county seat. Most Arkansas counties have one county seat, but some have two.

Newspapers from all counties can be found at ASA newspaper microfilm inventory.