Paragould is the county seat of Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anomaly contained within the Arkansas delta.
Paragould is the principal city of the Paragould, Arkansas Micropolitan Statistical Area and is also a part of the Jonesboro-Paragould Combined Statistical Area. The Paragould micropolitan area's population was 42,090 at the 2010 census, and the Jonesboro-Paragould Combined Statistical Area's population was 163,116.
The city had a population of 26,113 at the 2010 census and an estimated population of 28,986 in 2019.
History
The city's name is a blend combining the last names of competing railroad magnates J. W. Paramore and Jay Gould. Paramore's Texas & St. Louis Railway (later the Cotton Belt) and Gould's St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (later the Missouri Pacific) intersected here in 1882. A group of citizens chose the name, and it is believed to be the only city in the world with this name. Gould objected to his name's being second and refused to list the new town on his schedules.
Sundown town
From 1888 to 1908, Paragould experienced a series of incidents in which White residents threatened and attacked Black residents. Some Black residents were flogged, and some of their homes and churches were burned. Arkansas Governor Jeff Davis ordered the state militia not to intervene on behalf of Black citizens. On numerous occasions White residents ordered Black citizens to leave and never return. In 1908, they threatened them to leave or die, which resulted in an almost complete depopulation of African-Americans in the county, and earned Paragould the designation of a sundown town. Black children were not allowed to participate in any form of public education until 1948, and then by busing them out of the county to Booker T. Washington High School in Jonesboro. In 1957, facing mandated integration, Jonesboro terminated this practice. Prior to 1982, no hotel in Paragould would allow Black people to spend the night. In 1983, when two Black Union Pacific workers attempted to eat at a restaurant, they were locked out. When police reached the scene, they accused the workers of attempting to break into the restaurant. An informal ban on hiring African-Americans was alleged to exist in Paragould until at least 2002.
Geography
Paragould is located southeast of the center of Greene County. U.S. Routes 412 and 49 intersect in the city west of downtown. US 412 leads east to the Missouri state line at the St. Francis River, and a further northeast to Kennett, Missouri; to the west US 412 leads to Walnut Ridge. US 49 leads northeast to Piggott and southwest to Jonesboro. The closest major city is Memphis, Tennessee, to the southeast.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.52%, is water.
Climate
Paragould has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa).
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 29,537 people, 10,755 households, and 7,439 families residing in the city.
2010 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 26,113 people living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 94.4% White, 0.8% Black, 0.4% Native American, 0.3% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, <0.1% from some other race and 1.2% from two or more races. 2.8% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,017 people, 8,941 households, and 6,133 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 9,789 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.9% White, <0.1% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.2% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. 1.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 8,941 households, out of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.7% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.92.