Izard County Masthead
Izard County CC ~ Billie Walsh ~ bilwalsh@swbell.net
Co-CC ~ Rayedene Graves ~ rsgraves@gt.rr.com

History

George IzardIn the nineteenth century, Izard County served as a gateway to settlement across northern Arkansas and was the parent county of seven other counties. Later, Izard County's virgin yellow pine forests provided lumber to other parts of the state.
According to some historians, John Lafferty, a native of Ireland, traveled up the White River in 1802 to what became known as Lafferty Creek. He built a log cabin and attempted to claim 640 acres following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, but his claim was denied because he had not lived on the land for ten years. In spite of this setback, Lafferty and his family established the county's first settlement at Lafferty Creek in 1810.
In 1825, the territorial government split off part of Independence County, naming the new county for Governor George Izard. Adding Osage (1827) and Cherokee (1828) lands, Izard County covered most of north-central Arkansas. In 1833, western Izard County was divided into Van Buren, Carroll, and Johnson counties. Later, sections of Izard County were split off to become Marion (1836), Fulton (1842), and parts of Baxter (1873) and Stone (1873) counties.
Izard's first county seat and post office (then called Liberty, now Norfork in Baxter County) were established at the mouth of the North Fork River at Jacob Wolf's trading post. Sheriff John Adams and Clerk John Houston (brother of Sam Houston) were the first elected officials. The county seat was moved to Athens in 1830 and to Mount Olive in 1836. Mill Creek (later renamed Melbourne) became the county seat in 1875. Courthouses there burned in 1889 and 1937. From 1938 to 1940, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from Camp Sage (near Sage) built the current courthouse. It is the only courthouse in the country partly heated by a wood-burning furnace.





Cemeteries


Census and Tax Lists


Marriages

1895 Izard County Map


Look-up Volunteers

Social Security Death Index
Interactive Search

Death Records Online Searchable Database


Queries


Surnames


Land Records


Military


Goodspeeds Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas - Izard County

Izard County Officials 1825-1968
(Orig.Ar.Project)

Izard County Townships & Map (Orig. Ar. Project)

Family Group Sheets


Izard County Births

Nat. Reg. of Historic Places


County News


Izard County Biographies

1850-1880 Mortality Schedules

Izard County Photos

Transcription of Records of Prosperity A. R. P. Church
(Arkansas Trails)

Izard County Forum on Genforum

Izard County Forum on Rootsweb

Izard County Mail List on Rootsweb

Lost & Found


USGenWeb Archives
Township Range Map of Izard County
Mid Size
Township Range Map of Izard County
Very Large

Denny Elrod's "Exploring Izard County"

Izard County Historical Society to Meet
Brockwell – The Izard County Historical Society will meet on Sunday, July 8, 2018, at the Izard County Senior Center south of Brockwell on Highway #9 at 2 p.m. The meeting is free, and the public is invited to attend. Refreshments will be served.
David Carpenter to address Izard historians
Brockwell, July 8, 2018 - The Izard County Historical Society will meet on Sunday afternoon, July 8, 2018, at the Izard County Senior Center south of Brockwell, Arkansas, at 2 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.
David Carpenter will be the guest speaker. He will discuss land records in reference to historical and family research as he is a Land Surveyor in this area.
Carpenter is the executive assistant to the president of Ozarka College in Melbourne and serves as the special projects officer. He serves as the Division Chair of the Applied Science and Technology Department. He holds a Bachelor and Master of Arts Degrees in English from Arkansas State University. He is completing coursework for a Doctorate in Heritage Studies from ASU.
Rose Blankenship, President of the society, invites anyone interested in Izard County history or families to attend the meeting. To learn more about the society, look on Facebook and on the US Gen Web page at http://www.argenweb.net/izard/society. The society has yearly membership dues of $20 per household which includes receiving four publications. Mail dues payment to Izard County Historical Society at P. O. Box 877 Melbourne, AR 72556.



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Adjacent Counties
Izard County in red
Stone | Independence | Baxter | Fulton |  Sharp


Local Area Newspapers~   Baxter Bulletin  Batesville Guard



Izard County Courthouse
Melbourne, AR 72556
Telephone: (870) 368-4328


Special Thanks to Past CC's ~ Edward Hayden and Terri Buster



Last Updated, Thursday, 28-Jun-2018 11:21:29 MDT

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