Des Arc, Arkansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1941 and the latest in 1990. It stands in White River Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72040. It stands on Tubbs Creek. The Survey maps it on the Des Arc East quadrangle. 1,905 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 200 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Des Arc within Prairie County

On record in Des Arc

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 8 records

American Legion Hut-Des Arclisted 1995
Bethel Houselisted 1982
Bedford Brown Bethell Houselisted 1978
First Presbyterian Churchlisted 1990
Frith-Plunkett Houselisted 1982
Oak Grove Cemeterylisted 2001
Prairie County Courthouselisted 1977
Des Arc High School Home Economics Buildinglisted 2021

Population over time

4 figures

Des Arc grew from 548 to 1,905 between 1880 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
1880	548
2000	1,933
2010	1,717	-216 (-11%)
2020	1,905	+188 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 14 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1941 USGS De Valls Bluff quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1948 USGS Helena quadrangle1:250000
1950 USGS Helena quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1955 USGS Helena quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1957 USGS De Valls Bluff quadrangle1:62500
1959 USGS Helena quadrangle1:250000
1960 USGS Helena quadrangle1:250000
1968 USGS Des Arc East quadrangle1:24000
1971 USGS De Valls Bluff quadrangle1:62500
1986 USGS Brinkley quadrangle1:100000
1990 USGS Brinkley quadrangle1:100000

Fires near this place

4 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Des Arc between 2005 and 2015, burning about 179 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Arson/incendiarism	2
Debris and open burning	1
Equipment and vehicle use	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
15 June 2005	Arson/incendiarism	2.0 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
26 May 2005	Arson/incendiarism	1.0 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
14 February 2015	Debris and open burning	117 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	not named
20 November 2014	Equipment and vehicle use	59 acres	Arkansas Forestry Commission	PRA419837

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Prairie County

Storms near this place

60 of 105 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Des Arc in 105 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 39 flood, 38 thunderstorm wind, 20 hail, 5 flash flood. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
March 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	1 hurt	no account filed
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$100,000	Trees were down. One tree was on a house. Signs were knocked down near the baseball field and transformers were knocked out.
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$75,000	Many large trees were blown down, as were power lines. Minor damage occurred to one house and mobile home due to falling trees, while another house had more extensive damage.
August 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$75,000	The roof of the high school was damaged. Part of the roof and the smokestack on a riverboat restaurant were blown off. A large tree and some power lines were blown down. Downtown Des Arc was without power for most of the day.
October 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$60,000	A large metal shop building was destroyed. Flying debris from the building struck the adjacent house, sending a board through a wall and knocking out windows.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$50,000	Thunderstorm winds destroyed a small airplane hangar, damaged a cotton trailer and blew down several tree limbs.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$40,000	Several trees were uprooted and a barn and a house sustained damage.
August 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$25,000	Trees and power lines were blown down.
February 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$25,000	Trees and power lines were blown down in the area around Des Arc. One house had some roofing and siding damage.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$25,000	Trees were down across several roads, and one of the trees fell on a power line.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$15,000	Power lines were down across the area.
May 2011	Flood	Des Arc	$10,000	Very heavy rainfall in late April and early May caused the White River at Des Arc to rise to record levels. The highest river level seen since records have been kept was reached around midnight on the 7th, surpassing the old record set in early February, 1949, by over 2 feet.
May 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$10,000	A metal roof was torn off a large barn.
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$10,000	Power lines were blown down.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$10,000	A tree fell on the corner of a house.
December 2009	Flood	Des Arc	$10,000	Heavy rainfall on the 23rd and 24th caused the White River at Des Arc to rise above flood stage the evening of the 23rd. The river remained above flood stage into January.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$10,000	Trees were down along Arkansas Highway 38 west of Des Arc.
May 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$5,000	A tree was blown down onto power lines.
December 2011	Flood	Des Arc	$5,000	Heavy rainfall at the beginning of December caused the White River at Des Arc to rise above flood stage for several days.
January 2010	Flood	Des Arc	$5,000	This flooding is a continuation of the flooding from December, 2009. Heavy rainfall on the 23rd of December, 2009, caused the White River at Des Arc to rise above flood stage the evening of the 23rd. The river remained above flood stage through the entire month of January.
August 1993	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$5,000	Several trees were blown down.
April 2011	Flood	Des Arc	$5,000	no account filed
June 2011	Flood	Des Arc	$5,000	no account filed
April 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$3,000	A flagpole was snapped in half.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$1,000	Several large tree limbs were blown down.
September 2009	Flash Flood	Des Arc	$1,000	Water was across Arkansas Highway 11 North.
April 1993	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	$500	Thunderstorm winds knocked down a few trees.
April 2025	Flood	Des Arc	-	Major river flooding was observed at Des Arc along the White River.
May 2025	Flood	Des Arc	-	Minor river flooding was observed at Des Arc along the White River.
May 2025	Flood	Des Arc	-	Major river flooding was observed at Des Arc along the White River.
February 2025	Flood	Des Arc	-	Moderate flooding was observed at Des Arc along the White River.
June 2025	Flood	Des Arc	-	Minor river flooding was observed at Des Arc along the White River.
February 2024	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain in January brought continued flooding into early February 2024 on the White River at Des Arc.
February 2023	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain in mid February brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc.
May 2023	Flood	Des Arc	-	Flooding along the White River at Des Arc began in mid-February continuing through the early part of May before falling below flood stage.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	-	Reports of multiple trees down on power lines were received from Des Arc. These were relayed via NWSChat.
April 2022	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain in March brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc that continued through April.
May 2022	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc in early May.
March 2022	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain in early March brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc that continued into mid March.
March 2022	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain brought minor river flooding to the White River at Des Arc. This point remained above flood stage through the remainder of the month.
April 2021	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc in early April.
May 2021	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc on May 5, 2021.
March 2020	Flood	Des Arc	-	Flooding continued from February into March on the White River at Des Arc.
January 2020	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc.
May 2020	Flood	Des Arc	-	Flooding developed in late May on the White River at Des Arc due to heavy rain.
April 2020	Flood	Des Arc	-	Flooding continued on the White River at Des Arc into the first part of April 2020.
February 2020	Flood	Des Arc	-	Flooding continued on the White River at Des Arc from January.
June 2020	Flood	Des Arc	-	Flooding continued into June on the White River at Des Arc.
March 2019	Flood	Des Arc	-	Flooding continued most of March on the White River at Des Arc, from rainfall in February.
April 2019	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain caused flooding on the White River at Des Arc April 20 to 25, 2019.
February 2019	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc on February 12.
May 2019	Flood	Des Arc	-	Flooding began in early May and continued through much of May on the White River at Des Arc.
February 2018	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River.
March 2018	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain in late February brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc that continued into early March.
June 2017	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain continued into June on the White River at Des Arc.
April 2017	Flash Flood	Des Arc	-	Widespread flooding was occurring. Multiple roads were underwater...including several bridges. The sheriff's office was discouraging any travel.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Des Arc	-	Large trees limbs were blown down from severe thunderstorm winds.
May 2017	Flood	Des Arc	-	Heavy rain from April caused flooding in early May on the White River at Des Arc.
August 2017	Flash Flood	Des Arc	-	CO-OP Observer reported street flooding just west of Des Arc.
August 2017	Flash Flood	Des Arc	-	Hwy 323 at Biene Creek is closed. The road is sinking due to a failed culvert as a result of the rain.

Every storm recorded in Prairie County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Harrys (historical)	1.5 miles	14
Harrys	2.2 miles	16
Erwin	2.6 miles	14
Fourmile Corner	3.6 miles	16
Sand Hill	3.9 miles	13
Hunterton (historical)	4.0 miles	12
Letchworth	4.6 miles	14
Enarc (historical)	4.7 miles	12

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Des Arc	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79916	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 76785. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.