Lee County, Arkansas
Lee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. With its eastern border formed by the Mississippi River, it is considered to be part of the Arkansas Delta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,600. The county seat is Marianna. The county was established by the state legislature on April 17, 1873, during the Reconstruction era. It was named for General Robert E. Lee, who served as General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States during the American Civil War. History The area of the Delta was developed largely for cotton as a commodity crop before the Civil War, based on the labor of enslaved African Americans. It continued as an important crop into the 20th century, when it was worked by African-American sharecroppers and tenant farmers. In the post-Reconstruction era, whites struggled to re-establish white supremacy, by violence and intimidation of black Republican Party voters in this area and throughout the South. At the turn of the century, the state legislature passed measures that effectively disenfranchised most blacks for decades. The Equal Justice Initiative reported in 2015 that the county had 15 lynchings of African Americans from 1877 to 1950, most in the decades near the turn of the 20th century. This was the third-highest of any county in the state. To escape the violence and oppression, thousands of African Americans left the state in the Great Migration to northern and western cities, especially after 1940. Mechanization of farming and industrial-scale agriculture have decreased the need for workers. The rural county has continued to lose population because of the lack of work opportunities. There has been a decrease in population every decade since 1940. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.7%) is water. Major highways U.S. Highway 79 Highway 1 Highway 78 Highway 121 Highway 131 Highway 261 Adjacent counties St. Francis County (north) Crittenden County (northeast) Tunica County, Mississippi (east) Phillips County (south) Monroe County (west) National protected area St. Francis National Forest (part) Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 8,600 people, 3,206 households, and 1,994 families residing in the county. 2010 census As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 10,424 people living in the county. 55.3% were Black or African American, 42.0% White, 0.5% Native American, 1.6% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race), 0.4% Asian, 0.7% of some other race and 1.2% of two or more races. 2000 census As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 12,580 people, 4,182 households, and 2,960 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 4,768 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 57.24% Black or African American, 41.41% White, 2.19% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 0.27% Asian, 0.16% Native American, 0.52% from other races, and 0.40% from two or more races. There were 4,182 households, out