Ashley County is a county in Arkansas, United States, on the Louisiana border in the south-eastern corner of the state. It had a population of 19,062 at the 2020 census and covers 572.4 square miles (1,482.5 km2) centred near 33°12′N 91°48′W.
Hamburg is the county seat, and its postal code is 71646. Ashley County has 7 incorporated municipalities and a long list of unincorporated communities and former settlements, no townships (Arkansas has no civil township government), and observes the Central time zone.
Towns & Villages in Ashley County
Seven places in Ashley County are incorporated; the rest are unincorporated communities, rural crossroads, or abandoned townsites carried in county histories and USGS gazetteer records. Populations below are 2010 census figures where a verified 2020 figure was not available — marked with — where no reliable count exists.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crossett | City | 5,507 | 71635 |
| Hamburg | City · seat | 2,857 | 71646 |
| Wilmot | Town | — | 71676 |
| Montrose | Town | — | 71658 |
| Portland | Town | — | 71663 |
| Parkdale | Town | — | 71661 |
| Fountain Hill | Town | 175 | 71642 |
| North Crossett | Unincorp. | — | 71635 |
| South Crossett | Unincorp. | — | 71635 |
| West Crossett | Unincorp. | — | 71635 |
| Berea | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Berlin | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bovine | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Boydell | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Cremer | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Gulledge | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Kimball | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lloyd | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Martinville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Meridian | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Millers Chapel | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Milo | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Old Milo | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mist | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mount Olive | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mount Pleasant | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Post Oak | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Promised Land | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Pugh | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rawls | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Riley | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Roark | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Snyder | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Stillions | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sulphur Springs | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sunshine | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Thebes | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Trafalgar | Unincorp. | — | — |
Crossett’s three directional neighborhoods — North Crossett, South Crossett and West Crossett — are unincorporated pockets adjoining the city rather than separate settlements, and share its 71635 ZIP code. A handful of names in the older county record — Beech Creek Crossing, Crossroad, Donbey, Forest Park Addition, Longview Crossing, Oakhurst Addition and Rolfe Junction — could not be independently confirmed against county gazetteer sources this pass and are omitted here rather than published unverified.
ZIP Codes
- 71635 — Crossett (also serves North, South and West Crossett)
- 71646 — Hamburg
- 71642 — Fountain Hill
- 71658 — Montrose
- 71661 — Parkdale
- 71663 — Portland
- 71676 — Wilmot
Unincorporated communities without their own post office use the ZIP code of the nearest incorporated town.
Geography
Ashley County sits in the West Gulf Coastal Plain, a flat to gently rolling landscape of pine and hardwood timberland cut by the Bayou Bartholomew, Overflow Creek and several smaller streams that drain south toward Louisiana. Most of the county’s land is forested or in row-crop agriculture along the bottomlands.
Ashley County borders Drew County to the north, Chicot County to the east, Bradley County to the northwest, Union County to the west, and Morehouse Parish and Union Parish in Louisiana to the south and southwest.
Demographics
Ashley County had a population of 19,062 at the 2020 census. Crossett, the county’s largest city, and Hamburg, the county seat, together account for most of the county’s incorporated population. Median household income in the county runs well below the Arkansas median of $58,700, reflecting the county’s dependence on timber and manufacturing wages. Population density is about 33 people per square mile, spread thinly across the county’s rural townships and forestland.
Economy & Local Life
Timber and forest-products manufacturing anchor the local economy; Crossett grew up around a major pine sawmill and paper operation and remains a mill town in character. Agriculture — soybeans, timber and poultry — supports the county’s smaller communities. The University of Arkansas at Monticello’s Crossett-area programs and the county’s public school districts are among the larger local employers outside manufacturing.
History
Ashley County was organized on November 30, 1848, carved from parts of Drew, Chicot and Union Counties as Arkansas’s 52nd county. It is named for Chester Ashley, a prominent Little Rock attorney who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1844 until his death in 1848. The county’s plantation-era economy gave way in the early twentieth century to industrial timber operations, which drew workers to Crossett and shaped the county’s development through the 1900s; like much of rural Arkansas, the county’s history also includes documented instances of racial violence during the Jim Crow era.
Getting There
US Highway 82, US Highway 165 and US Highway 425 cross Ashley County, along with eleven state highways connecting its towns.
- Monroe, Louisiana — about 45 miles south
- Pine Bluff, Arkansas — about 65 miles north
- El Dorado, Arkansas — about 40 miles west
- Little Rock, Arkansas — about 120 miles north
The nearest commercial airport is Monroe Regional Airport in Monroe, Louisiana.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ashley County?
It is in the south-eastern corner of Arkansas, on the Louisiana state line.
What is the population of Ashley County?
19,062 at the 2020 census.
How big is Ashley County?
572.4 square miles (1,482.5 km2).
What is the county seat of Ashley County?
Hamburg is the county seat.
How many towns are in Ashley County?
Seven incorporated municipalities — Crossett, Hamburg, Wilmot, Montrose, Portland, Parkdale and Fountain Hill — plus numerous unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Ashley County?
71635, 71642, 71646, 71658, 71661, 71663 and 71676.
What is Ashley County’s economy based on?
Timber, forest-products manufacturing and agriculture, centred on the mill town of Crossett.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Arkansas.