Chicot County, Arkansas
county in Arkansas, United States
Chicot County ( SHEE-koh) is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,208. The county seat is Lake Village. Chicot County is Arkansas's 10th county, formed on October 25, 1823, and named after Point Chicot on the Mississippi River. It is part of the Arkansas Delta, lowlands along the river that have been historically important as an area for large-scale cotton cultivation. Landmarks around the county include Lake Chicot, Arkansas, North America's largest oxbow lake and Arkansas's largest natural lake; the site of Charles Lindbergh's first night-time flight; and the legendary burial site of Hernando De Soto, near Lake Village.
History
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto came to this area with his expedition in 1542, settling for a time in the village or territory known as Guachoya. The European-American town of Lake Village later developed in the 19th century at Lake Chicot, formed by an oxbow of the Mississippi River. Eighteenth-century French colonists named it Chicot because of the many cypress trees in the waterways. The word is translated to "stumpy, or knobby".
“Chicot County, Arkansas” enters the record as county in Arkansas, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Chicot, County and Arkansas can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Chicot County, Arkansas” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Chicot, County and Arkansas provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q61458. VIAF identifies the subject as 152456818. The Library of Congress control number is n81108709. Authority coordinates are 33.298, -91.275. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1823 and 1542.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Chicot County, Arkansas”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Chicot County, Arkansas primary sources, Chicot County, Arkansas archive and Chicot research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Chicot County, Arkansas”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Chicot County, Arkansas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.