Johnson County, Missouri: History and Information

Johnson County, Missouri

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

County Seat: Warrensburg
Year Organized: 1834
Square Miles: 831

Court House:

300 N. Holden Street
County Courthouse
Warrensburg, MO 64093-1708

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for R.M. Johnson, Kentucky senator and later vice president.

Demographics:

History of Johnson County

In the west-central part of the state, bounded on the north by Lafayette County, on the east by Pettis County, on the south by Henry and Cass Counties, and on the west by Jackson and Cass Counties. Organized in 1834, and named by Robert Macklin White, a member of the Missouri State Legislature, in honor of Honorable Richard Mentor Johnson (1780-1850), born near Louisville, Kentucky. He served in the War of 1812, and at the Battle of Thames in 1813. It was by his hand that Tecumseh was supposed to have been slain. In 1819 he was elected Senator from Kentucky to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. In 1829 he was returned to the House of Representatives. In 1836, he was candidate for vice president on the Van Buren ticket, and was elected by the Senate. He was candidate for vice president again in 1840, but was defeated. Originally Johnson County was a portion of Lafayette County. (HIST. JOHNSON 1881, 174)

Source: Johnson, Bernice E. "Place Names In Six Of The West Central Counties Of Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1933.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Centerview

city

Incorporated Area

- Chilhowee

town

Incorporated Area

- Holden

city

Incorporated Area

- Kingsville

city

Incorporated Area

- Knob Noster

city

Incorporated Area

- Leeton

city

Incorporated Area

- Warrensburg (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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Johnson County, Missouri

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

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History of Johnson County

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

Online High Schools

County Resource Guide