Crime Scene and Trauma Cleanup in Van Buren, AR

Van Buren is the county seat of Crawford County in western Arkansas, located on the Arkansas River directly northeast of Fort Smith at the junction of Interstate 40 and Interstate 540.

The city's first post office opened in 1831 and was named for Martin Van Buren, then the U.S. secretary of state and later the eighth president, giving the town its name.

Van Buren became the Crawford County seat in 1838 and was incorporated on January 4, 1845.

Van Buren began as an Arkansas River port and trade center, served as a major starting point for prospectors heading west in the 1849 gold rush, and was the site of Arkansas's first federal district court.

The first edition of the Arkansas Intelligencer, the first newspaper published west of Little Rock, appeared in Van Buren on January 22, 1842.

The population of Van Buren was 23,218 at the 2020 census, ranking it as Arkansas's 21st largest city, up from 22,791 in 2010.

Census Bureau survey figures for 2020-2024 put Van Buren's average household size at 2.56 persons per household.

The Van Buren Historic District preserves six blocks of restored buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s along Main Street, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The King Opera House on Main Street, a centerpiece of the historic district since the late nineteenth century, still hosts theatrical performances and community events.

The Crawford County Courthouse in Van Buren, built in the 1870s, is described as the oldest continuously operating courthouse west of the Mississippi River.