The first
settler to the area was Benjamin Crowley of Kentucky who arrived in
1821 and established a home about 12 miles west of Paragould.
Greene County was formed on November 5, 1833 out of portions of
Lawrence County, Arkansas
and contained portions of present
Poinsett County
in 1838,
Craighead County
in 1859, and
Clay County
in 1873. The county was named after
Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Greene. The original county seat
was in Benjamin Crowley's home. By 1836 when Arkansas became a
State, the county seat was located at a settlement called "Paris."
In
1848, a national highway was put through and the county seat was
moved to the community of Gainesville, Arkansas which had a
reputation as a relatively lawless town. The county seat remained
there until 1883 when it was moved to the new town of
Paragould.
The residents of Gainesville opposed the move and it is reported
that shots were fired and tempers were high. A new court house was
built in 1888 and the building still survives in downtown Paragould.
A new court house was built in 1996 at 320 West Court Street.
We WELCOME
and ENCOURAGE the contribution of Greene County, AR information and
links to this website. All information is credited to whom credit is
due. Thank you for visiting the site and we hope you find something
useful or that you enjoyed it.
This site is a proud part of the ARGENWEB Project and the USGENWEB Project. My
name is Sandy (Matheny) Hardin ~ Greene Co., Arkansas CC and the
Assist. CC is PR Massey.
