Douglas County, Missouri: History and Information

Douglas County, Missouri

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

County Seat: Ava
Year Organized: 1857
Square Miles: 815

Court House:

P.O. Box 398
County Courthouse
Ava, MO 65608-0398

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Stephen A. Douglas, Illinois senator and later presidential candidate.

Demographics:

History of Douglas County

Organized October 19, 185, from portions of Taney and Webster Counties and named for Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861), senator from Illinois (1847-1861), and nominated for the Presidency in 1860. In 1857 Douglas was at the height of his power and popularity. (Eaton (46) V, p. 43; T.A. Kay)

Source: Bell, Margaret E. "Place Names In The Southwest Border Counties Of Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1933.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Ava (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our 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."

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