Phillips County, Arkansas

Phillips County is a county in Arkansas, United States, in the Arkansas Delta about 65 miles
southwest of Memphis, Tennessee. It had a population of 16,568 at the 2020 census, an estimated
15,450 by 2024, and covers 696 square miles (1,800 km2) of land centred near 34°23′N 90°52′W.

Helena-West Helena is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 72342.
The county holds 4 cities, 1 town and 14 unincorporated communities, and it runs on
Central Time. Its FIPS code is 05107.

Towns & Villages in Phillips County

Phillips County has 19 named places on record: 5 incorporated cities and towns and 14
unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census
designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads, landings and rural communities with no formal
boundary. Arkansas has no functioning civil township system, so places below are not grouped by
township.

Lake View carried the name Turkey Scratch from its 1850s founding until it was rebuilt and
renamed in the 1920s; the two names refer to one place, not two, and this page lists it once
under its current name. Barton and Lexa share a joint school district (Barton-Lexa), which is why
the two small places are often mentioned together despite sitting several miles apart on
Highway 85.

ZIP Codes

• 72342 — Helena-West Helena (main office)
• 72390 — West Helena (the former separate city’s own ZIP, still in use)
• 72333 — Elaine
• 72355 — Lexa
• 72366 — Marvell
• 72367 — Mellwood
• 72312 — Barton

Lake View, Modoc, Lambrook, Crumrod, Cypert, Ferguson, Hicksville, Kingtown, Postelle, Ratio,
Turner, Wabash and Walnut Corner have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the
nearest post-office town’s code, usually Helena-West Helena, Marvell or Barton.

Geography

Phillips County sits in the Arkansas Delta, a flat alluvial plain built by the Mississippi
River, with Crowley’s Ridge rising along its western edge near Helena. Of its 727 square
miles, 696 are land and 32 are water, about 4.4 percent — high for the state, since the
Mississippi River forms the county’s entire eastern boundary and the St. Francis
National Forest and Old Town Lake add further wetland acreage in the north.

Lee County lies to the north, Desha County to the south, Arkansas County and Monroe County to
the west, and three Mississippi counties — Tunica, Coahoma and Bolivar — face the
county across the river to the east. Lee
County and Arkansas County both
have live pages on this site; Desha and Monroe counties do not.

Demographics

Phillips County had a population of 16,568 at the 2020 census, down from earlier decades, and
the latest estimate puts the county near 15,450 residents, a continuing decline tied to the
Delta’s long agricultural mechanization trend. Helena-West Helena and Marvell are the two
largest communities, together holding well over half the county’s population. Median
household income runs $40,134, well below Arkansas’s statewide figure of $58,700 (2023
ACS). Population density works out to roughly 24 people per square mile of land, among the
lowest in the state outside the Ozark highlands.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 754 people,
followed by retail trade at 747 and manufacturing at 708. Agriculture — cotton, soybeans
and rice on the Delta’s flat, fertile ground — remains the base of the local economy
even where it no longer shows up as direct payroll employment, and barge traffic on the
Mississippi moves much of that grain to market through the county’s river port at
Helena. The University of Arkansas System operates its Division of Agriculture research station
near Marvell, a major regional employer for agronomy and soil-science work. The county’s
biggest annual event is the King Biscuit Blues Festival, held in downtown Helena-West Helena each
October since 1986, drawing blues fans well beyond the county’s own population.

History

The Arkansas Territorial Legislature formed Phillips County on 1 May 1820, its seventh county
and one of the state’s oldest. It was named for Sylvanus Phillips, an early
European-American settler in the area who sat in the territory’s first legislature. Helena,
founded in 1833 as a Mississippi River port, and West Helena, its younger neighbor, consolidated
into a single city, Helena-West Helena, on 1 January 2006.

On 30 September and 1 October 1919, a white mob attacked Black sharecroppers near Elaine after
a shooting at a union organizing meeting, in what is now called the Elaine massacre. Estimates
place Black deaths at 237 or more, against five white deaths, making it one of the deadliest
episodes of racial violence in United States history. The Equal Justice Initiative classifies the
killings as lynchings, and a memorial to the victims stands in Helena.

Getting There

US Route 49 crosses the Mississippi River on the Helena Bridge into Mississippi; US Route 79
and US Route 242 also run through the county. No interstate highway reaches Phillips County.

• Memphis, Tennessee — about 65 miles northeast
• Little Rock — about 80 miles west
• Clarksdale, Mississippi — about 35 miles southeast
• West Memphis — about 55 miles north

Memphis International Airport, roughly 70 miles northeast of Helena, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Phillips County operates a small general-aviation airport just west of
Helena-West Helena. Amtrak does not serve Phillips County; the nearest station is in Memphis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Phillips County located?
It sits in the Arkansas Delta on the Mississippi River, about 65 miles southwest of Memphis,
bordered by Lee, Desha, Arkansas and Monroe counties in Arkansas and Tunica, Coahoma and Bolivar
counties in Mississippi.

What is the population of Phillips County?
16,568 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 15,450.

How big is Phillips County?
727 square miles (1,880 km2) total, of which 696 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Phillips County?
Helena-West Helena is the county seat, formed by the 2006 merger of Helena and West Helena.

How many towns and cities are in Phillips County?
Five incorporated places — Helena-West Helena, Marvell, Elaine, Lake View and Lexa —
plus the Mellwood CDP and 13 unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Phillips County use?
72342 and 72390 for Helena-West Helena, 72333 for Elaine, 72355 for Lexa, 72366 for Marvell,
72367 for Mellwood and 72312 for Barton.

What is Phillips County known for?
The King Biscuit Blues Festival each October, and the 1919 Elaine massacre, one of the deadliest
episodes of racial violence in United States history.

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