Union County, Arkansas | |
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Union County Courthouse in El Dorado
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Location in the U.S. state of Arkansas |
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Arkansas's location in the U.S. |
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Founded | November 2, 1829 |
Seat | El Dorado |
Largest city | El Dorado |
Area | |
• Total | 1,055 sq mi (2,732 km2) |
• Land | 1,039 sq mi (2,691 km2) |
• Water | 16 sq mi (41 km2), 1.5% |
Population (est.) | |
• (2016) | 39,887 |
• Density | 40/sq mi (15/km²) |
Congressional district | 4th |
Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
Website | www |
Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,639. The county seat is El Dorado. The county was formed on November 2, 1829, and named in recognition of the citizens' petition for a new county, stating that they were petitioning "in the spirit of Union and Unity." The county is directly adjacent to Union Parish in the state of Louisiana.
The El Dorado, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Union County.
Called once by boosters the “Queen City of South Arkansas” and, more recently, “Arkansas’s Original Boomtown,” the city was the heart of the 1920s oil boom in South Arkansas.
Union County was formed on November 2, 1829, from portions of Clark and Hempstead counties.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,055 square miles (2,730 km2), of which 1,039 square miles (2,690 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) (1.5%) is water. It is the largest county by area in Arkansas. Union County, along with Columbia County, has the largest bromine reserve in the United States. The lowest point in the state of Arkansas is located on the Ouachita River in Union County and Ashley County, where it flows out of Arkansas and into Louisiana.
Union County in Arkansas and Union Parish in Louisiana are two of twenty-two counties or parishes in the United States with the same name to border each other across state lines. The others are Big Horn County, Montana and Big Horn County, Wyoming, Sabine County, Texas and Sabine Parish, Louisiana, Bristol County, Massachusetts and Bristol County, Rhode Island, Kent County, Maryland and Kent County, Delaware, Escambia County, Alabama and Escambia County, Florida, Pike County, Illinois and Pike County, Missouri, Teton County, Idaho and Teton County, Wyoming, Park County, Montana and Park County, Wyoming, San Juan County, New Mexico and San Juan County, Utah, and Vermilion County, Illinois and Vermillion County, Indiana. respectively. (Note, despite the different spellings, the source of the name is the same for Vermilion County, Illinois and Vermillion County, Indiana—the Vermillion River which flows through both counties.)