Editing Arkansas County, Arkansas (section)

==Culture and contemporary life==
{{multiple image |align=right |direction= horizontal |width1= 125 |width2= 132 |footer=Several properties related to Arkansas County's rice heritage are listed on the NRHP, including the [[A.M. Bohnert Rice Plantation Pump]] (left) and the [[Tichnor Rice Dryer and Storage Building]] (right). |image1= A.M._Bohnert_Rice_Plantation_Pump.jpg |image2= Tichnor Rice Dryer and Storage Building.jpg |alt1= Photo of a very rusted industrial-looking pump with tall tube and wheel sits in a flat rice field. |alt2= Photo of a rusted structure built of corrugated sheet metal, painted with faded letters reading "Tichnor Dryer & Storage", sitting just behind a tall, cylindrical rice storage elevator. }}
{{Main|Culture of Arkansas}}
Arkansas County has several facilities, monuments, and museums dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the area. Several historic log structures remain in the county from the pioneer era. Four facilities interpret the county's natural heritage and unique position on the Grand Prairie, including [[Arkansas Post State Park]],<ref name="harvard travel">{{harvp|"Travel"|2018|p= 218}}.</ref> the Museum of the Grand Prairie in Stuttgart,<ref name="harvard travel" /> the Potlatch Conservation Education Center in [[Casscoe, Arkansas|Casscoe]],<ref>{{harvp|"Travel"|2018|p= 212}}.</ref> and the Visitor Center at White River NWR in [[St. Charles, Arkansas|St. Charles]].<ref name="harvard travel" /> Local history museums include the St. Charles Museum and the Museum of the Grand Prairie in Stuttgart.<ref name="harvard travel" />

Several [[National Register of Historic Places]] (NRHP, [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Arkansas County, Arkansas|complete county list]]) properties in the county relate to Arkansas County's rice heritage, including the [[A.M. Bohnert Rice Plantation Pump]], [[L.A. Black Rice Milling Association Inc. Office]], [[Tichnor Rice Dryer and Storage Building]], and several contributing structures from the [[DeWitt Commercial Historic District]] and [[Stuttgart Commercial Historic District]]. Several buildings in these districts also were parts of the county's economic and cultural history, including the [[Riceland Hotel]] and [[Standard Ice Company Building]] in downtown Stuttgart. History of government and public services in the county is preserved in both the [[Arkansas County Courthouse-Northern District|Northern District]] and [[Arkansas County Courthouse-Southern District|Southern District]] courthouses, [[DeWitt Post Office]] and [[US Post Office-Stuttgart|Stuttgart Post Office]], and the [[Old Gillett Jail]].

Arkansas County hosts two [[farmer's market]]s, offering fresh produce, baked goods and crafts: North Market at Main and Sixth streets in Stuttgart and South Market on [[U.S. Route 165|Highway&nbsp;165]] in DeWitt. Both are open from May through October.<ref>{{cite web |author= Staff of the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism |title= Arkansas County Farmers Market: North Market |url= https://www.arkansas.com/attractions/detail/arkansas-county-farmers-market-north-market/93314 |publisher= Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism |year= 2018 |access-date= July 4, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180705033226/https://www.arkansas.com/attractions/detail/arkansas-county-farmers-market-north-market/93314 |archive-date= July 5, 2018 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= Staff of the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism |title= Arkansas County Farmers Market: South Market |url= https://www.arkansas.com/attractions/detail/arkansas-county-farmers-market-south-market/93138 |publisher= Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism |year= 2018 |access-date= July 4, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180705033248/https://www.arkansas.com/attractions/detail/arkansas-county-farmers-market-south-market/93138 |archive-date= July 5, 2018 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

===Annual cultural events===
The most widely known annual cultural event in Arkansas County is the [[Gillett, Arkansas|Gillett]] Coon Supper, described by ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' as "a political rite of passage" for those seeking public office in Arkansas.<ref>{{ cite web |title= For Politicians on the Stump, a Rack of Raccoon Is a Must Eat |date= January 8, 2016 |first= Alison |last= Sider |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-politicians-in-arkansas-theres-one-dish-they-must-eat-1452292605 |work= The Wall Street Journal |publisher= [[Dow Jones & Co.]] |location= [[New York, NY]] |access-date= July 4, 2018 }}</ref> The meeting of local residents and politicians started in 1943 as a fundraiser serving boiled, and smoked [[raccoon]] for the Gillet High School football team, but has remained a tradition long after the school's consolidation.

[[File:Waterfowl near Bayou Meto, Arkansas.jpg|right|thumb|Waterfowl near Bayou Meto]]
Perhaps the most popular annual event 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, annual hunting trips in Arkansas were first documented by French explorers [[Jacques Marquette]] and [[Louis Jolliet]] in 1673. Many hunts are organized through [[Club (organization)|hunting club]]s (like the historic [[Crocketts Bluff Hunting Lodge]]) and usually involve local guides for tourist groups. Public lands are very desirable and fill up quickly; many Arkansans seek to use private lands in Arkansas County to avoid crowds. In the 2016–17 season, the AGFC sold over 100,000 waterfowl stamps, roughly equally split between in-state and out-of-state hunters. The numbers include over 8,000 to out-of-state hunters to hunt on WMAs.<ref>{{ cite web |title= 2017-18 Arkansas Waterfowl Hunting Guidebook |url= https://s3.amazonaws.com/agfc-static/guidebooks/waterfowlguidebook.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222212531/https://s3.amazonaws.com/agfc-static/guidebooks/waterfowlguidebook.pdf |archive-date=February 22, 2022 |url-status=live |publisher= Arkansas Game and Fish Commission |location= Little Rock |page= 11 }}</ref> Festivities begin during Thanksgiving Week with the World's Championship Duck Calling Contest and Wings Over the Prairie Festival in Stuttgart.

The Arkansas County Fair has been held annually since 1938 at the Arkansas County Fairgrounds in DeWitt during mid-September.

===Media===
The county newspaper is the ''[[Stuttgart Daily Leader]]'', a daily newspaper established in Stuttgart in 1885. Former newspapers include ''The Free Press'' and ''The Stuttgart Republican''.<ref>{{harvp|"History"|1978|p=12}}.</ref>