Howard County, Missouri

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Howard County, Missouri
Map
Location in the state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1816
Seat	Fayette
Area - Total - Land - Water	471 sq mi (1,220 km²) 466 sq mi (1,207 km²) 5 sq mi (13 km²), 1.02%
Population - (2007) - Density	9,879UNIQ525db38e534a827b-ref-000,006C9-QINU 21/sq mi (8/km²)

Howard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2007, the population is 9,879^[2]. Its county seat is Fayette^[3]. The county was organized in 1816 and named for Benjamin Howard, first governor of Missouri Territory. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri Metropolitan Area

1 History
2 Geography
- 2.1 Adjacent counties
- 2.2 Major highways
3 Demographics
4 Cities and towns
5 References

[edit] History

Howard County was settled primarily from migrants from the Upper South states of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. They brought slaves and slaveholding traditions with them, and quickly started cultivating crops similar to those in Middle Tennessee and Kentucky: hemp and tobacco. Howard was one of several counties settled mostly by southerners to the north and south of the Missouri River. Given their culture and traditions, this area became known as Little Dixie and Howard was at its heart.^[4] In 1860 slaves made up 25 percent or more of the county's population.^[5] Residents generally supported the Confederacy during the Civil War.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 471 square miles (1,219 km²), of which, 466 square miles (1,206 km²) of it is land and 5 square miles (12 km²) of it (1.02%) is water.

[edit] Adjacent counties

Chariton County (northwest)
Randolph County (northeast)
Boone County (southeast)
Cooper County (south)
Saline County (west)

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 10,212 people, 3,836 households, and 2,631 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 4,346 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.13% White, 6.84% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races, and 1.10% from two or more races. 0.86% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 32.4% were of German, 16.1% American, 8.9% English and 8.3% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 3,836 households out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.40% were non-families. 27.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.00% under the age of 18, 13.30% from 18 to 24, 25.20% from 25 to 44, 21.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,614, and the median income for a family was $40,167. Males had a median income of $26,369 versus $19,950 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,198. About 7.50% of families and 11.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.70% of those under age 18 and 14.40% of those age 65 or over.