The Carroll County Shuffle

The county boundaries in the "Arkansaw" Territory changed many times prior to achieving Arkansas Statehood in 1836, and several times thereafter. Carroll County would both lose and gain land mass at times, due to its constantly shifting boundaries. Carroll County lost sections of land to Madison and Searcy counties in the late 1830's, and Newton County would be carved from it in 1842. In 1867, Boone County would take enough land away from Carroll County to leave it below the required minimum square miles for a county. To remedy the situation, Carroll County gained a portion of Madison County.

If you were to look at historical Arkansas maps, the current area of Carroll County would have fallen into the following transitioning county limits:

** Historians seem to disagree on the exact location of the short-lived Lovely County. Some believe that it encompassed a portion of present-day Carroll County, while others limit its Eastern border to portions of modern day Benton, Crawford, and Washington Counties. Please refer to Historic Lovely County, Arkansas for more info.