Jasper, Arkansas, surrounded by history and animals

Jasper is county seat of Newton County. Jasper’s 2010 population was 466. The county population was 8,330. A county with that small a population, people won’t let government go overboard.

Within 20 or 30 miles or so of Jasper are Aurora, Deer, Bass, Boston, Parthenon, Dogpatch, Venus, and Mount Judea.

Terrain in that part of Arkansas is kind of squiggly, with creeks curlicuing along valleys and lots of pushed together hills and small mountains.

Southeast of Jasper is “Arkansas Grand Canyon,” a national park in Newton County. People who put designations on things might consider that the park looks nothing like the Arizona Grand Canyon, and while the Arkansas park might be “deepest in the Ozarks,” it still is covered with trees and has nothing like the Colorado River running through it.

Don’t get me wrong. There is lots of pretty countryside to see and hike through, creeks to cross and caves to explore. But the other Grand Canyon it is not.

Despite the scenic beauty of the area, Jasper has a high poverty rate, 25.9% of families and 31.6% of total population under the official poverty line.

Jasper’s highest population was 519 in 1980. Ten years later, the population had dropped 36%, to 332. At the 2000 census, population was up by 50%, at 498.

Newton County is the official “Elk Capital of Arkansas.”

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=365