Maries County, Missouri: History and Information

Maries County, Missouri

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

County Seat: Vienna
Year Organized: 1855
Square Miles: 528

Court House:

P. O. Box 205
County Courthouse
Vienna, MO 65582-0205

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for the Maries River. Maries is probably a corruption of the French "marias" meaning "marsh" or "swamp." The Maries River, like the upper reaches of the Osage River, was once said to be called Le Marias de Cygnes or "Marsh of Swans." It has also been suggested that the Big and Little Maries Rivers were named for two French girls and that the name is the plural of Marie.

Demographics:

History of Maries County

Maries County was originally a part of St. Louis County. On December 11, 1818, it became part of Franklin County and so remained until November 25, 1820, when it was joined to Gasconade County. When Pulaski County was formed in 1833, it included part of Maries, and the rest remained in Gasconade until Osage County was created in 1841 including part of Maries County. Maries County was organized March 2, 1855. On the north is Osage County; on the west Miller; on the south, Pulaski; on the south and east, Phelps; on the east, Gasconade. The county is named for the two streams which head in it, the Maries River and the Little Maries (q.v.). (HIST. COLE etc., 593, 595)

Source: Weber, Frank. "Place Names Of Six South Central Counties of Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1938.

Neighboring Counties:

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Cities and Towns:

- Belle

city

Incorporated Area

- Vienna (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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