Missouri Counties
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Missouri Counties

Missouri has one hundred and fourteen counties and one independent city. St. Louis City is separate from St. Louis County and is referred to as a "city not within a county." Following the Louisiana Purchase and the admittance of Louisiana into the United States in 1812, five counties were formed out of the Missouri Territory at the first general assembly. Most subsequent counties were apportioned from these five original counties.
 

Missouri Counties: History and Information

Find a brief history of Missouri  CountiesBrief history of Missouri Counties: Flags of Our Nation

Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Missouri is the 18th most populous state. It comprises 114 counties and one independent city. Missouri's capital is Jefferson City. The four largest urban areas are, in descending order, St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. Missouri was originally acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became defined as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Missouri Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state in 1821.

Missouri has 114 counties and one independent city. St. Louis City is separate from St. Louis County and is referred to as a "city not within a county."

Missouri gets its name from a tribe of Sioux Indians of the state called the Missouris. The word "Missouri" often has been construed to mean "muddy water" but the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology has stated it means "town of the large canoes," and authorities have said the Indian syllables from which the word comes mean "wooden canoe people" or "he of the big canoe.

Find a brief history of Missouri Counties
County 2000
Population
Square
Miles
County Seat Created
Adair County 24,977 568 Kirksville 1841
Andrew County 16,492 435 Savannah 1841
Atchison County 6,430 545 Rock Port 1845
Audrain County 25,853 693 Mexico 1836
Barry County 34,010 779 Cassville 1835
Barton County 12,541 594 Lamar 1855
Bates County 16,653 848 Butler 1841
Benton County 17,180 706 Warsaw 1835
Bollinger County 12,029 621 Marble Hill 1851
Boone County 135,454 685 Columbia 1820
Buchanan County 85,998 410 Saint Joseph 1838
Butler County 40,867 698 Poplar Bluff 1849
Caldwell County 8,969 429 Kingston 1836
Callaway County 40,766 839 Fulton 1820
Camden County 37,051 655 Camdenton 1841
Cape Girardeau County 68,693 579 Jackson 1812
Carroll County 10,285 695 Carrollton 1833
Carter County 5,941 508 Van Buren 1859
Cass County 82,092 699 Harrisonville 1835
Cedar County 13,733 476 Stockton 1845
Chariton County 8,438 756 Keytesville 1820
Christian County 54,285 563 Ozark 1859
Clark County 7,416 507 Kahoka 1836
Clay County 184,006 396 Liberty 1822
Clinton County 18,979 419 Plattsburg 1833
Cole County 71,397 392 Jefferson City 1820
Cooper County 16,670 565 Boonville
Crawford County 22,804 743 Steelville 1829
Dade County 7,923 490 Greenfield 1841
Dallas County 15,661 542 Buffalo 1841
Daviess County 8,016 567 Gallatin 1836
DeKalb County 11,597 424 Maysville 1845
Dent County 14,927 754 Salem 1851
Douglas County 13,084 815 Ava 1857
Dunklin County 33,155 546 Kennett 1845
Franklin County 93,807 922 Union
Gasconade County 15,342 520 Hermann 1820
Gentry County 6,861 492 Albany 1845
Greene County 240,391 675 Springfield 1833
Grundy County 10,432 436 Trenton 1841
Harrison County 8,850 725 Bethany 1845
Henry County 21,997 702 Clinton 1834
Hickory County 8,940 399 Hermitage 1845
Holt County 5,351 462 Oregon 1841
Howard County 10,212 466 Fayette 1816
Howell County 37,238 928 West Plains 1857
Iron County 10,697 551 Ironton 1857
Jackson County 654,880 605 Kansas City, Independence 1826
Jasper County 104,686 640 Carthage 1841
Jefferson County 198,099 657 Hillsboro
Johnson County 48,258 831 Warrensburg 1834
Knox County 4,361 506 Edina 1845
Laclede County 32,513 766 Lebanon 1849
Lafayette County 32,960 629 Lexington 1820
Lawrence County 35,204 613 Mount Vernon 1845
Lewis County 10,494 505 Monticello 1833
Lincoln County 38,944 630 Troy
Linn County 13,754 620 Linneus 1837
Livingston County 14,558 535 Chillicothe 1837
Macon County 15,762 804 Macon 1837
Madison County 11,800 497 Fredericktown
Maries County 8,903 528 Vienna 1855
Marion County 28,289 438 Palmyra 1826
McDonald County 21,681 540 Pineville 1849
Mercer County 3,757 454 Princeton 1845
Miller County 23,564 592 Tuscumbia 1837
Mississippi County 13,427 413 Charleston 1845
Moniteau County 14,827 416 California 1845
Monroe County 9,311 646 Paris 1831
Montgomery County 12,136 539 Montgomery City
Morgan County 19,309 598 Versailles 1833
New Madrid County 19,760 678 New Madrid 1812
Newton County 52,636 626 Neosho 1838
Nodaway County 21,912 877 Maryville 1845
Oregon County 10,344 792 Alton 1845
Osage County 13,062 606 Linn 1841
Ozark County 9,542 747 Gainesville 1841
Pemiscot County 20,047 493 Caruthersville 1851
Perry County 18,132 475 Perryville 1820
Pettis County 39,403 685 Sedalia 1833
Phelps County 39,825 673 Rolla 1857
Pike County 18,351 673 Bowling Green
Platte County 73,781 420 Platte City 1838
Polk County 26,992 637 Bolivar 1835
Pulaski County 41,165 547 Waynesville 1833
Putnam County 5,223 518 Unionville 1845
Ralls County 9,626 471 New London 1820
Randolph County 24,663 482 Huntsville 1829
Ray County 23,354 570 Richmond 1820
Reynolds County 6,689 811 Centerville 1845
Ripley County 13,509 630 Doniphan 1833
Saline County 23,756 756 Marshall 1820
Schuyler County 4,170 308 Lancaster 1845
Scotland County 4,983 438 Memphis 1841
Scott County 40,422 421 Benton 1821
Shannon County 8,324 1,004 Eminence 1841
Shelby County 6,799 501 Shelbyville 1835
St. Charles County 283,883 561 Saint Charles 1812
St. Clair County 9,652 677 Osceola 1841
St. Francois County 55,641 450 Farmington 1821
St. Louis City 348,189 62 St. Louis 1764
St. Louis County 1,016,315 508 Clayton 1812
Ste. Genevieve County 17,842 502 Sainte Genevieve 1812
Stoddard County 29,705 827 Bloomfield 1835
Stone County 28,658 463 Galena 1851
Sullivan County 7,219 651 Milan 1845
Taney County 39,703 632 Forsyth 1837
Texas County 23,003 1,179 Houston 1845
Vernon County 20,454 834 Nevada 1851
Warren County 24,525 432 Warrenton 1833
Washington County 23,344 760 Potosi 1813
Wayne County 13,259 761 Greenville
Webster County 31,045 593 Marshfield 1855
Worth County 2,382 266 Grant City 1861
Wright County 17,955 682 Hartville 1861


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