In 1863, eight suspected Confederate sympathizers were extrajudicially executed by the Union Army, one survived. Huntsville incorporated as a town after the Civil War in 1877.[8] The community was incorporated as a city on July 16, 1925.[9]
Geography
Huntsville is located north of the center of Madison County in the northwest part of the Arkansas Ozarks. Via U.S. Route 412 it is 28 miles (45km) east of Springdale and 47 miles (76km) west of Harrison.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.4 square miles (14km2), of which 0.02 square miles (0.05km2), or 0.33%, are water.[3] Town Branch flows northward through the east side of the city, ending at Holman Creek in the northern part of the city. Holman Creek flows north into War Eagle Creek, which continues northwest to the White River east of Springdale.
As of the 2020 census, Huntsville had a population of 2,879. The median age was 33.2 years. 30.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 84.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 83.6 males age 18 and over.[13]
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.[14]
There were 1,003 households in Huntsville, of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 38.3% were married-couple households, 19.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[13]
There were 1,116 housing units, of which 10.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.0%.[13]
Income and poverty
The median income for a household in the city was $34,167, and the median income for a family was $48,952. Males had a median income of $26,929 versus $19,766 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,686. About 29.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.
The Huntsville Public Library, part of the Madison Carroll and Madison Library System, is located at 827 N. College Street, which provides patrons of the library system access to print books, publications, multimedia content, internet access, public computer access, as well as access to an Interlibrary loan system.[16]
