The Arkansas County Quorum Court determined Arkansas Post, which had served as county seat since 1813, was no longer centrally located within the county following creation of several Southeast Arkansas counties. A new, more centrally located town was proposed to become county seat. Founded February 19, 1853, the name DeWitt was picked out of a hat after being submitted by an admirer of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton, one of many localities named for Clinton during the period. The town was platted in 1854,[4] and has had a post office since 1856.[5] The city was incorporated in 1875.[4]
Geography
DeWitt and Arkansas County are located in the Arkansas Delta (in Arkansas, usually referred to as "the Delta") a subregion of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, which is a flat area consisting of rich, fertile sediment deposits from the Mississippi River between Louisiana and Illinois.
Within the Delta, Arkansas County is almost entirely within the Grand Prairie subregion, historically a flat grassland plain underlain by an impermeable clay layer (the Stuttgart soil series). Prior to the 19th century, flatter areas with slowly to very slowly permeable soils (often containing fragipans) supported Arkansas's largest prairie, covered in prairie grasses and forbs, with oaks covering the low hills and ridges, and pockets of floodplains with bottomland hardwood forests. This region was a sharp contrast to the bottomland forests that once dominated other parts of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. Cropland has now largely replaced the native vegetation. Distinctively, rice is the main crop; soybeans, cotton, corn, and wheat are also grown. The rice fields provide habitat and forage for large numbers and many species of waterfowl; duck and goose hunting occurs at this important spot along the Mississippi Flyway.[6]
As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 3,552 people, 1,419 households, and 977 families living in the city. The population density was 1,371.7 inhabitants per square mile (529.6/km2). There were 1,552 housing units at an average density of 599.4 per square mile (231.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 77.93% White, 20.92% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races. 0.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 1,419 households, out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% were married couples living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,921, and the median income for a family was $42,917. Males had a median income of $30,536 versus $25,240 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,993. About 10.6% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over.
Education
DeWitt is the center of the DeWitt School District and is home to DeWitt High School, DeWitt Middle School, DeWitt Elementary School, and Gillett Elementary School. Their mascot is the Dragons, and their school colors are blue and gold.
DeWitt High School houses grades 9 through 12. DeWitt Middle School houses grades 6 through 8, and both DeWitt Elementary and Gillett Elementary provide kindergarten through 5th grade.
Perhaps the most popular annual event in DeWitt is duck hunting season between November and January, a tradition dating back to the Illinois Indians who traveled south to Arkansas to hunt, popular with Arkansans and tourist hunters from across the country.
The Arkansas County Fair has been held annually since 1938 at the Arkansas County Fairgrounds in DeWitt during mid-September.
DeWitt has been served by the DeWitt Era Enterprise since 1929. Several other newspapers have been published in the city, many during the late 19th century.[12]
This article's list of people may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are members of this list, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (November 2022)
Frank Glasgow Tinker, combat flying ace with eight victories; first American fighter pilot to down a Nazi Messerschmitt Bf 109, during Spanish Civil War[16]
^Planning and Research Division (January 11, 2011) [September 30, 2009]. General Highway Map, Arkansas County, Arkansas(PDF) (Map). 1:62,500. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. OCLC908640315. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
