Paragould, AR

Paragould is the Greene County seat in northeastern Arkansas, set on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge. The city's unusual name blends the surnames of railroad magnates J.W. Paramore and Jay Gould, a reminder of how rail shaped its early growth. Paragould is the center of its own micropolitan area and also tied to Jonesboro. It has Crowley's Ridge College, a Black River Technical College campus, local manufacturing and services, and a geography that feels different from the flatter Arkansas Delta nearby.