Nevada County Genealogy Records
Nevada County genealogy records begin in 1871, when this southwest Arkansas county was formed from Columbia, Hempstead, and Ouachita counties. The county seat is Prescott, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records for family history research in this part of southwest Arkansas.
Nevada County at a Glance
Nevada County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Nevada County Clerk's office is at 215 E. 2nd Street, Prescott, AR 71857, phone (870) 887-2710. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1871 and probate records from 1871. Nevada County was created on March 20, 1871, from parts of Columbia County, Hempstead County, and Ouachita County. The Circuit Court Clerk at the courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records from 1871. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Nevada County was formed during the Reconstruction period and takes its name from the Nevada community that existed in this part of southwest Arkansas before the county was organized. The 1871 formation date means the county's earliest courthouse records were made in the context of post-Civil War reorganization. Prescott developed as the county seat along the Cairo and Fulton Railroad, and the early land and probate records document families establishing themselves in the new county during that period.
Because Nevada County was carved from three parent counties, identifying which parent county your ancestor lived in before 1871 is the key research step. Columbia County records at Magnolia go back to 1853. Hempstead County records at Hope go back to 1837. Ouachita County records at Camden go back to 1843. The township where your ancestor held land or filed records before 1871 determines which of these three courthouses holds the earlier documentation.
Note: Nevada County was formed in 1871 from Columbia, Hempstead, and Ouachita counties. Pre-1871 family records are distributed across those three parent county courthouses.
Nevada County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Nevada County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1871 are in the statewide Arkansas marriage index on FamilySearch. Probate records are indexed for the county, and census records run from 1880 through 1940.
The 1880 census is the first complete federal census for Nevada County and names every household member with ages, birthplaces, and occupations. It was taken nine years after the county's formation and captures families who had already been established in the Prescott area for nearly a decade. The birthplace data in 1880 commonly shows Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia as the origins of Nevada County's founding families, providing the earlier research trail.
FamilySearch has indexed Slave Schedules for the three parent counties from 1850 and 1860. For African American genealogy in Nevada County, these schedules list enslaved people in the area that later became the county. The 1870 and 1880 census population schedules for Nevada County document formerly enslaved individuals as named free household heads for the first time and are the key post-war documents for tracing Black families in this county.
ARGenWeb Nevada County Resources
The ARGenWeb Nevada County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. Cemetery surveys, family history submissions, and historical documents for this southwest Arkansas county are available on the site.
Nevada County cemeteries document families from the founding period in 1871 through the 20th century. The ARGenWeb volunteers have transcribed a range of these sites, preserving stone readings that identify family clusters and can be cross-referenced against courthouse records to establish relationships not otherwise documented.
The ARGenWeb Nevada County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing southwest Arkansas families in the Prescott area.
Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Nevada County trace families through their connections to all three parent counties. Because the county was formed from three different jurisdictions, submitted genealogies often document research across Columbia, Hempstead, and Ouachita counties as researchers follow family lines back before 1871.
Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives
The Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives (SARA) at 201 Hwy 195 S, Washington, AR 71862, phone (870) 983-2633, covers 12 southwest Arkansas counties including Nevada County. SARA holds county records, family papers, and historical manuscripts relevant to this region and can supplement what is available in the Nevada County courthouse and in the three parent county courthouses.
The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock holds Confederate pension files, military records, and microfilmed county materials for Nevada County. The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records from 1914. Federal records are at the National Archives at Fort Worth, 501 W Felix Street, Fort Worth, TX 76115, phone (817) 831-5620.
Nearby Counties
Nevada County borders Hempstead County, Columbia County, Ouachita County, Calhoun County, and Clark County. All three parent counties — Hempstead, Columbia, and Ouachita — hold pre-1871 records for Nevada County families.