Craighead County, Arkansas

Craighead County, Arkansas
Craighead County Courthouse, Jonesboro
Seal
Location in the U.S. state of Arkansas
Arkansas's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 19, 1859
Named for	Thomas Craighead
Seat	Jonesboro (western district); Lake City (eastern district)
Largest city	Jonesboro
Area
• Total	713 sq mi (1,847 km2)
• Land	707 sq mi (1,831 km2)
• Water	5.5 sq mi (14 km2), 0.8%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	104,354
• Density	136/sq mi (53/km²)
Congressional district	1st
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	craigheadcounty.org

Craighead County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 96,443. The county has two county seats — Jonesboro and Lake City. Craighead County is Arkansas's 58th county, formed on February 19, 1859, and named for state Senator Thomas Craighead. It is one of several dry counties within the state of Arkansas, in which the sale of alcoholic beverages is largely prohibited.

Craighead County is included in the Jonesboro, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Craighead County was part of the territory claimed by France on April 9, 1682 by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle who laid claim to all of the land drained by the Mississippi River and its assorted tributaries. LaSalle's claim was named Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV, King of France.

The Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762) was signed between France and Spain and ownership of the Louisiana territory west of the Mississippi River was transferred to the Spanish crown as a result of the Seven Years' War and Craighead County became a Spanish possession.

Spain remained in control of the territory encompassing the county until October 1, 1800 when Napoleon Bonaparte forced Spain to return the lost territories to France under the Treaty of Ildefonso. Napoleon maintained grandiose plans to establish a vast French Empire in Louisiana but the Royal Navy prevented him from transferring troops or settlers to the acquired territories.