Sebastian

Formed January 6, 1851 (53^rd county)

Sebastian County (127,800), Fort Smith (89,141), Greenwood (9,520)

Another two-courthouse county, Fort Smith’s version is a masonry government structure. The Fort Smith structure was built in 1937 in Art Deco style.  The facility is located on a square at Rogers, 6^th, Parker and 7^th streets, two blocks southeast of United States Highway 64.  There was an 1861 courthouse in Fort Smith.  E. Chester Nelson designed the Fort Smith structure.  Built in 1969, Greenwood’s is a Modern style tan brick and concrete building.  It is sited at 301 E. Center Street at Main Street.  Center Street is Arkansas State Highway 10 in the town.  There have been two earlier courthouses in Greenwood.  Nelson, Laser, and Cheyne provided the Greenwood courthouse designs.  A District courthouse augments in Fort Smith.  Greenwood was named for Judge Alfred Burton Greenwood.  The county’s namesake is Saint Sebastian.  Fort Smith was named for Commanding General Thomas A. Smith and the fort’s name transferred to the city.  Sebastian County was the birthplace of 1 Arkansas Governor, John S. Little.  The county was created from sections of Crawford and Scott counties on January 6, 1851 as the 53^rd county.  Greenwood was the original county seat and Fort Smith was added in 1861. 

Sebastian County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, treasurer, and coroner (executive).  It has 13 Quorum Court members (legislative.)  Six Circuit Court Judges and Four District Court Judges, an Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Sebastian County (judicial.)  The county is in far western Arkansas.  The Arkansas River forms the northern border and Oklahoma is the western border of the county.  Fayetteville, Arkansas is North of the county.  The center of the county is 4.4 miles West-Northwest of Greenwood.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Crawford, Franklin, Logan, and Scott counties and Oklahoma.  The little r shape of this county puts Fort Smith at the extreme northwest corner.  Greenwood is near the county’s center.  Fort Smith is one of the county seats and the largest city.  Greenwood is the other county seat.  Fort Smith is 69.8% of the county population while Greenwood is 7.5% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SE-BAS-CHIN.  

The area of the county is 546.0 square miles.  It is 74 of 75 in size.  It ranks 4 out of 75 in population in the state.  It has a density of 234.1 persons per square mile making it 4 out of 75 in the state.  Sebastian County has 85.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 64 cuts the extreme north part of the county from Crawford County, north, to Oklahoma, west.  United States Highway 71 enters the county the north, Crawford County, and exits to the south, Scott County.  United States Highway 271 originates in the county and heads west into Oklahoma.  The county is in the Fort Smith Metropolitan Statistical Area.