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Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Audrain, Barry, Barton, Bates, Benton, Bollinger, Boone, Buchanan, Butler, Caldwell, Callaway, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Carroll, Carter, Cass, Cedar, Chariton, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Cole, Cooper, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Daviess, DeKalb, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Gentry, Greene, Grundy, Harrison, Henry, Hickory, Holt, Howard, Howell, Iron, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Laclede, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Madison, Maries, Marion, McDonald, Mercer, Miller, Mississippi, Moniteau, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, New Madrid, Newton, Nodaway, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Perry, Pettis, Phelps, Pike, Platte, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Ray, Reynolds, Ripley, Saline, Schuyler, Scotland, Scott, Shannon, Shelby, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, St. Louis City, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Stoddard, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Texas, Vernon, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Worth, Wright

Missouri Counties

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Missouri Counties

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."

Clay County, Missouri

Clay County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Liberty
Year Organized: 1822
Square Miles: 396

Court House:

Courthouse Square
County Courthouse
Liberty, MO 64068-2365

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Henry Clay, Kentucky congressman.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History of Clay County

This county was formed from Ray County, January 2, 1822. At that time it had its present south, east, and west boundaries, but on the north it extended to the Iowa line. In January, 1883 it was reduced to its present size, when all the territory north of its present north boundary was organized under the name of Clinton County. Today the northern boundary is Clinton. Clinton was reduced to its present size in 1845. The eastern boundary of Clay is Ray, the south Jackson, from which it is separated by the Missouri River, and the west Platte. The name was given in honor of Henry Clay (1777-1852) the "brilliant and coming statesman of Kentucky." (LAWS OF MISSOURI 1822, 60; ATLAS CLAY 1877, 9; HIST. CLAY & PLATTE 1886, 98)

Source: Atchison, Anne. "Place Names Of Five West Central Counties Of Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1937.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Avondale	city	Incorporated Area
- Birmingham	village	Incorporated Area
- Claycomo	village	Incorporated Area
- Crystal Lakes	city	Incorporated Area
- Excelsior Springs	city	Incorporated Area
- Gladstone	city	Incorporated Area
- Glenaire	city	Incorporated Area
- Holt	city	Incorporated Area
- Kansas City	city	Incorporated Area
- Kearney	city	Incorporated Area
- Liberty (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Missouri City	city	Incorporated Area
- Mosby	city	Incorporated Area
- North Kansas City	city	Incorporated Area
- Oaks	village	Incorporated Area
- Oakview	village	Incorporated Area
- Oakwood	village	Incorporated Area
- Oakwood Park	village	Incorporated Area
- Pleasant Valley	city	Incorporated Area
- Randolph	village	Incorporated Area
- Smithville	city	Incorporated Area
- Woods Heights	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."