Hempstead

Formed December 15, 1818 (3^rd county)

Hempstead County (20,062), Hope (8,940)

The concrete courthouse in Hope was built in 1939 and enlarged in 1994 and 2012.  There was an earlier courthouse in Hope and one in Washington in 1836.  The current Hope facility is located one block south of United States Highway 67 on Washington Street between 4^th and 5^th streets.  McAninch and Anderson is the architectural firm for this Art Deco style structure.  Washington (1824) and Hope (1838) have been the county seats.  Missouri Congressman Edward Hempstead is the source for the county’s name.  A railroad director’s daughter, Hope Loughborough, is the namesake for the county seat.  Hempstead County was the birthplace of 3 Arkansas Governors, William J. Clinton, Michael D. Huckabee, and Sarah E. H. Sanders.  Hempstead County was originally part of Arkansas County before its December 15, 1818 creation as the 3^rd county.  William J. Clinton, the 42^nd President, was born in this county. 

Hempstead County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, treasurer, and coroner (executive).  It has 11 Quorum Court members (legislative.)  Two Circuit Court Judges serve Hempstead and Nevada counties and a District Court Judge, an Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Hempstead County (judicial.)  The county is situated in southwest Arkansas to the northeast of Texarkana, Arkansas.  The Red River is the southwest border of the county.  The center of the county is 5.3 miles West-Northwest of Hope.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pike, Nevada, Lafayette, Miller, Little River, and Howard counties.  The county is a tall rectangle with a shelf on the west side.  Hope is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Hope is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 44.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced HEMP-STED.  

The area of the county is 741.4 square miles.  It is 24 of 75 in size.  It ranks 34 out of 75 in population in the state.  It has a density of 27.1 persons per square mile making it 38 out of 75 in the state.  Hempstead County has 49.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 30 cuts across the county from northeast, Nevada County, to southwest, Miller County.  United States Highway 67 parallels Interstate Highway 30 from Nevada to Miller counties.  United States Highway 278 enters from Nevada County, east, and exits into Howard County, northwest.  United States Highway 371 also crosses the county from Nevada County to Howard County, east to west.  The county is in the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area.