Ashley

Formed November 30, 1848 (51^st county)

Ashley County (19,064), Hamburg (2,533), Crossett (4,828)

The modern columnar 1969 house of Ashley County is built of brick.  Four courthouses have been located in Hamburg (1905 and 1923 were the most recent.)  The building sits at East Jefferson at North Mulberry, one block east of United States Highway 425.  Renshaw and Taylor are the designers of the Modern style courthouse.  Ashley County was named for United States Senator Chester Ashley.  Hamburg derives its name from the German city.  Ashley County was formed on November 30, 1848 from parts of Drew and Union counties as the 51^st county.  Hamburg has been the only county seat. 

Ashley County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, treasurer, and coroner (executive).  It has 9 Quorum Court members (legislative.)  Five Circuit Court Judges serve Ashley, Bradley, Chicot, Desha, and Drew counties and a District Court Judge, an Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Ashley County (judicial.)  The county is situated in the far southeast on the border with Louisiana.  El Dorado, Arkansas is west.  The center of the county is 6.7 miles Southeast of Hamburg.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Drew and Chicot counties and Louisiana and Union and Bradley counties.  The county has three straight sides and an extending west side to form a rectangle with a western bulge.  The Saline River is the western border of the county.  Hamburg is slightly east of center.  Crossett is in the southwest quarter of the county.  Hamburg is the county seat and Crossett is the largest city.  Hamburg is 13.3% of the county population while Crossett is 25.3% of the county population.

The area of the county is 939.1 square miles.  It is 6 of 75 in size.  It ranks 36 out of 75 in population in the state.  It has a density of 20.3 persons per square mile making it 53 out of 75 in the state.  Ashley County has 45.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 82 crosses east to west from Chicot County into Union County.  United States Highway 165 enters from Drew County in the northeast and exits south into Louisiana.  United States Highway 425 also passes from Drew County into Louisiana. 

Wilmot