History of Clay County

Henry Clay

Clay County, first called Clayton County, is located in the northeastern tip of Arkansas, bordered to the north and east by Missouri, to the west by Randolph County and to the south by Greene County.

Clay County was formed in 1873 from parts of Randolph and Greene counties, with Corning as the county seat. The eastern part of the county was formed from parts of Greene County and the western part was formed from Randolph County. There is some controversy over exactly which individual was the namesake of Clayton County. It may have been John M. Clayton or his brother, Powell Clayton. However, when the county name was changed to present-day Clay County in 1875, Henry Clay was the person honored.

The county seat was moved from Corning to Boydsville in 1877. Most of the residents were concentrated in the eastern part of the county and it was difficult to travel through the bottoms to Corning. In 1881 the county was divided into two districts with Boydsville as the Eastern county seat and Corning as the Western county seat. In 1888 the eastern county seat was moved to Piggott.

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This web site is only as good as the information that  is shared by you, the researcher. If you have any Clay County information, we'd love to have it, no matter how small. Every little bit helps to expand and better this site as a genealogical research tool.

Please share your records with us HERE. Can you contribute to any of the categories?
Thank you, Juli Risener Morgan
Clay County Coordinator

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