Conway

Photo Courtesy of Arkansas Historic Preservation

The Conway County Courthouse in Morrilton is a late Classical Revival structure built in 1929-1930. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Conway County Website

Conway County Census

Conway County lies in the heart of the fertile Arkansas River Valley in the rolling foothills of the Ozarks. The county was created on October 20, 1825, from territory taken from Pulaski County, which then included all of present-day Faulkner, Van Buren, Pope and Perry counties and part of Yell County. Conway County is named for Henry Wharton Conway, a member of the Arkansas territorial delegation to Congress.

Perhaps the county's the most striking landmark is Petit Jean Mountain, which provides beautiful views of the valley. On top of the mountain is Petit Jean State Park, flagship of the Arkansas state park system and its most visited. The focal point of the park is Cedar Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the South. The park has more trails listed on the National Recreation Trails Registry than any other Arkansas state park.

Elsewhere, the Arkansas River, Lake Overcup and Cadron Creek provide opportunities for floating and fishing.

Conway County has worked to diversify its industry and is home to a variety of businesses and manufacturing, as well as to Winrock Farms, the agricultural enterprise founded on Petit Jean Mountain by the late Arkansas Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller. Some 6,000 acres of the farm are used in the production of purebred Santa Gertrudis cattle. Winrock International Livestock Research and Training Center is a public foundation working to advance animal agriculture to meet human food needs.

Another Rockefeller legacy is the Museum of Automobiles. The nonprofit organization's permanent collection includes a 1923 Climber, one of two in existence, which represents Arkansas's brief foray into automobile production from 1919 to 1924.

Conway County's late classic revival courthouse, built in 1929-1930, is being restored with the help of the Arkansas Historical Preservation Program.

--courtesy the Association of Arkansas Counties