Cleburne County, created February 20, 1883, from parts of Independence, Van Buren, and White counties and named for

Patrick R. Cleburne, an Arkansas Major General of the Confederate Army. Cleburne is Arkansas' youngest county. It was created by act of the General Assembly as the state's 75th county, and the act was signed into law on February 20, 1883. The new county was formed from the eastern part of Van Buren County and smaller portions of land taken from the western edge of White County and the southwest corner of Independence County. Most of what is now Cleburne County was in Pulaski County from 1819 until the formation of the counties of Independence (1820), Van Buren (1833), and White (1835).

The bill not only created the county and defined its boundaries, but also provided for orderly transfer of the business of the county from its surrounding parent counties. The act designated the town of Sugar Loaf (to become Heber Springs) as the temporary county and directed the Van Buren County sheriff to conduct an election to select the permanent county seat and elect officers for the new county.

The first county officials were William George Ward of Quitman, county judge; Thomas Jefferson Andrews, Heber, circuit clerk; Stephen Julon Morton, Heber, sheriff; Thomas Jefferson Majors, Shiloh, county treasurer; Calvin Sales, Waco, surveyor; James Arnettt, coroner; and Jesse W. Witt, Quitman, assessor. Witt died in September of that year and James Calvin Barnes was appointed assessor.

The post office at Heber had been established in 1882, and the town of Sugar Loaf was incorporated later the same year. It was not until 1910 that Heber Post Office was changed to Heber Springs Post Office and the town of Sugar Loaf was officially changed to Heber Springs. The county seat is Heber Springs.

The landscape of the county is rugged: mountainous in the north to rugged, rolling terrain in the south. The Greers Ferry hydroelectric dam, a 40,000 acre reservoir, made way for a recreational boom that has steadily continued since 1963. Fishing, boating, and hunting in the area are big. A visitors' center, national fish hatchery for rainbow trout, the dam and powerhouse overlook, and a natural trail along with the icy-cold Little Red River filled with trout makes it a popular place. Industrial development, cattle and poultry farming, and tourism makes up the economic base of the county. As of the 2000 census, Cleburne County had a population of 24,046 residents.