Sebastian County, Arkansas

Sebastian County is a county in Arkansas, United States, anchored by Fort Smith on the Oklahoma line. It had a population of 127,799 at the 2020 census and covers 532 square miles (1,380 km2) of land centred near 35°35′N 94°15′W.

Fort Smith is the county seat for the northern district and Greenwood is the county seat for the southern district — Sebastian is one of only a handful of Arkansas counties with two seats, a legacy of its size and 1851 formation. Fort Smith’s postal code is 72901. The county has 9 cities, 1 town and several unincorporated communities, no civil townships, and sits in the Central time zone. FIPS code 05131.

Towns & Villages in Sebastian County

Sebastian County has 10 incorporated places — 9 cities and 1 town — plus a long list of unincorporated communities and former settlements, several of them absorbed into Fort Smith or Fort Chaffee over the past century. CDP = census-designated place; Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no municipal government.

Fort Chaffee, a former U.S. Army post partly annexed by Fort Smith, still carries its own ZIP. Jenny Lind, an old coal-mining settlement west of Fort Smith, is sometimes split into “Old” and “New” Jenny Lind on maps, but the U.S. Census treats it as one place.

ZIP Codes

• 72901–72904, 72908 — Fort Smith
• 72908 — also serves Fort Chaffee
• 72936 — Greenwood
• 72923 — Barling
• 72941 — Lavaca
• 72944 — Mansfield
• 72937 — Hackett
• 72938 — Hartford
• 72940 — Huntington
• 72945 — Midland

Bonanza and the smaller unincorporated communities generally share a ZIP with the nearest larger town rather than carrying their own.

Geography

Sebastian County sits in the Arkansas River Valley at the western edge of the state, where the Boston Mountains give way to the Ouachitas to the south. The Arkansas River forms much of the county’s northern edge, and the Poteau River enters from Oklahoma near Fort Smith. Terrain rises from river bottomland in the north to forested hills toward Greenwood and Hackett in the south, with sections of the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests along the southern boundary.

Sebastian County borders Crawford County to the north, Franklin County to the east, Scott County to the south, and Le Flore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma to the west. Franklin County has its own page: Franklin County, Arkansas. Crawford, Scott, Le Flore and Sequoyah counties do not currently have a live Sebastian-neighbor page on this site.

Demographics

Sebastian County’s population was 127,799 at the 2020 census, the fourth-largest of Arkansas’s 75 counties. Fort Smith, with 89,142 residents, and Greenwood, with 9,516, are by far its largest communities, together holding more than three-quarters of the county’s people. Median household income runs below the Arkansas median of $58,700 in much of the county outside Fort Smith’s suburbs, reflecting the area’s manufacturing and service-sector wage base. Population density is roughly 240 people per square mile, concentrated heavily around Fort Smith.

Economy & Local Life

Fort Smith anchors the county’s economy as the hub of the Fort Smith, AR-OK metropolitan area, with manufacturing (furniture, aerospace parts, food processing), healthcare and logistics as major employers. Baptist Health-Fort Smith and Mercy Hospital Fort Smith are the area’s principal medical employers; the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith is the county’s public four-year college. Fort Chaffee, once a major Army training post, now hosts light industry and a National Guard training center. Greenwood and the smaller towns to the south are more agricultural and residential, feeding commuters into Fort Smith.

History

Sebastian County was created on January 6, 1851, from parts of Crawford, Polk and Scott counties, and named for William K. Sebastian, then a U.S. senator from Arkansas. Fort Smith, the county’s namesake city, grew up around a U.S. Army post established in 1817 to police the border with Indian Territory, and later served as a federal court seat under Judge Isaac Parker, the “Hanging Judge,” whose jurisdiction covered much of what is now Oklahoma. The county’s dual-seat arrangement, with Greenwood serving the southern district, dates to an 1875 statute recognizing the difficulty of travel across the county before modern roads.

Getting There

Interstate 49 and Interstate 540 cross the county through Fort Smith, along with U.S. Highways 64, 71 and 271 and State Highways 10, 22, 45, 59 and 96.

• Van Buren, Arkansas — 6 miles north
• Poteau, Oklahoma — 25 miles west
• Ozark, Arkansas — 30 miles northeast
• Fayetteville, Arkansas — 60 miles north

Fort Smith Regional Airport, inside the county at Fort Smith, offers the nearest commercial air service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Sebastian County?
It is in western Arkansas, on the Oklahoma state line, centred on Fort Smith.

What is the population of Sebastian County?
127,799 at the 2020 census, the fourth-highest of any Arkansas county.

How big is Sebastian County?
532 square miles (1,380 km2) of land area.

What is the county seat of Sebastian County?
Sebastian County has two seats: Fort Smith for the northern district and Greenwood for the southern district.

How many towns are in Sebastian County?
10 incorporated places — 9 cities and 1 town — plus several unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Sebastian County?
Fort Smith uses 72901–72904 and 72908; other towns include Greenwood 72936, Barling 72923, Lavaca 72941 and Mansfield 72944.

What is Fort Chaffee?
A former U.S. Army post inside Sebastian County, partly annexed by Fort Smith and now home to light industry and a National Guard training center.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Arkansas.