Boone County, Missouri Explained

County:Boone County
State:Missouri
Seal:Boone County, Missouri seal.png
Founded Year:1820
Founded Date:November 16
Largest City: Columbia
Area Total Sq Mi:691
Area Land Sq Mi:685
Area Water Sq Mi:5.6
Area Percentage:0.8
Population As Of:2020
Population Total:183610
Population Density Sq Mi:auto
Time Zone:Central
Web:www.showmeboone.com
Named For:Daniel Boone (1734-1820)
Ex Image:Big Tree with spring picnic.jpg
District:4th

Boone County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Centrally located the state's Mid-Missouri region, its county seat is in Columbia, which is Missouri's fourth-largest city and location of the University of Missouri. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the county's population was listed as 183,610,[1] making it the state's eighth-most populous county. The county was organized November 16, 1820, removed from the former larger Howard County (now to the northwest) of the old federal Missouri Territory of 1812-1821, and named for the famous Western explorer and settler of Kentucky, then recently deceased Daniel Boone (1734-1820), whose kin largely populated the Boonslick area, having arrived in the 1810s on the Boone's Lick Road.[2]

Boone County comprises the Columbia Metropolitan Area. The towns of Ashland and Centralia are the second and third most populous towns in the county.

History

Boone County was organized November 16, 1820, from a separated portion of the larger territorial Howard County, first designated under the former federal Louisiana Territory (1804-1812) and subsequent successor Missouri Territory (1812-1821). The central region of the state is known as Mid-Missouri and is also known as the cultural area of Boonslick or Boone's Lick Country, because of a nearby salt spring or "lick" which famed Western American frontier explorer, pioneer, settler Daniel Boone's (1734-1820) sons, Daniel Morgan Boone (1769-1839), and younger Nathan Boone (1780-1856), used for their animals stock.

Boone County was settled primarily from the Upper South states of Kentucky, Tennessee and further east of Virginia. The settlers brought slaves and idea of slave-holding with them, and quickly started cultivating crops similar to those in Middle Tennessee and the bluegrass state of Kentucky: hemp and tobacco. Boone was one of several counties to the north and south of the diagonal flowing southwestward Missouri River that was settled by mostly Southerners. Because of its culture and traditions, the area became known as Little Dixie, and Boone County was at its heart.[3] In 1860 slaves made up 25 percent or more of the county's population, Boone County was strongly pro-Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865).[4]

Shortly after the assassination / murder in April 1865, of 16th President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865, served 1861-1865), the leading citizens of the county and its county seat town denounced the killing. They also directed that all public buildings including the county courthouse and the nearby state university be draped in black mourning for thirty days.[5]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (0.8%) is water.[6] The Missouri River makes up the southern border of the county.

National protected areas

Adjacent counties

Major highways

Demographics

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 135,454 people, 53,094 households, and 31,378 families residing in the county. The population density was 198sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 56,678 housing units at an average density of 83adj=preNaNadj=pre. The racial makeup of the county was 85.43% White, 8.54% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 2.96% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.69% from other races, and 1.93% from two or more races. Approximately 1.78% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 24.6% claimed German, 12.3% American, 11.2% English and 9.8% Irish ancestry.

There were 53,094 households, out of which 30.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.50% were married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.90% were non-families. 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.80% under the age of 18, 19.90% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 18.80% from 45 to 64, and 8.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,485, and the median income for a family was $51,210. Males had a median income of $33,304 versus $25,990 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,844. About 7.60% of families and 14.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.10% of those under age 18 and 5.90% of those age 65 or over.

There are 127,433 registered voters as of 2022.[8]

Religion

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives County Membership Report (2010), Boone County is sometimes regarded as being on the northern edge of the so-called Bible Belt, with evangelical Protestantism being the most predominant religious faith represented. The most predominant denominations among residents in Boone County who adhere to a religion are the Baptists with the largest being from the conservative Southern Baptist Convention (20.81%), Roman Catholics (16.71%), and smaller / minor nondenominational or evangelical groups (13.23%).

2020 Census

Boone County Racial Composition[9] !Race!Num.!Perc.
White (NH)137,77175%
Black or African American (NH)17,8829.7%
Native American (NH)4520.3%
Asian (NH)7,7724.23%
Pacific Islander (NH)1200.07%
Other/Mixed (NH)11,5616.3%
Hispanic or Latino8,0524.4%

Education

Public schools

Private schools

Post-secondary (colleges / University / community college)

Public libraries

Communities

Cities

Villages

Unincorporated communities

Townships

Township boundaries have changed over time. See links at end of article for maps of Boone County showing boundaries of different dates. As a rule, older townships were split, with newer townships created from their subdivisions. This is significant for historical and genealogical research. Note that maps show changes in township boundaries between 1898 and 1930 were minimal.

Politics

Political culture

As a county anchored by a college town, Boone holds a Democratic tendency at the local, state, and federal levels. It is the only Democratic stronghold in Missouri outside of Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area.

No Republican has won Boone County at the presidential level since George W. Bush very narrowly did in 2004, let alone with a majority since landslide victor Ronald Reagan in 1984; at the U.S. Senate level since Roy Blunt in 2010; nor at the gubernatorial level since the popular John Ashcroft (who won the county both terms) in his 1988 landslide re-election.

Local

Like nearly all other U.S. counties housing a major university, the Democratic Party predominantly controls politics at the local level in Boone County. Democrats currently hold all of the elected county-wide positions.

State

Gubernatorial

Past Gubernatorial Elections Results
YearRepublicanDemocraticThird Parties
202044.63% 40,47852.96% 48,0562.39% 2,171
201641.28% 34,10654.95% 45,3963.77% 3,117
201237.59% 29,17158.38% 45,3024.03% 3,125
200842.71% 35,78555.28% 46,3152.01% 1,688
200447.33% 35,66651.08% 38,4891.59% 1,201
200043.13% 25,60952.22% 31,0074.65% 2,767
199630.51% 15,92965.62% 34,2663.87% 2,021

Missouri House of Representatives

Boone County is split between five legislative districts in the Missouri House of Representatives. Three are held by Republicans, with two held by Democrats.

Missouri Senate

All of Boone County is a part of Missouri's 19th District in the Missouri Senate and is currently represented by Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia), who is the Majority Floor Leader. However, Democrats have carried Boone County in recent elections.

Federal

US House of Representatives

Northern Boone County is included in Missouri's 4th Congressional District and is currently represented by Mark Alford (R-Lake Winnebago, Missouri) in the U.S. House of Representatives. On October 27, 2021, Alford Sr. announced his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Missouri's 4th congressional district as a Republican in the 2022 elections. He won the Republican nomination in the August 2 primary election and won the November 8 general election.

Southern Boone County is included in Missouri's 3rd congressional district and is currently represented by Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-St. Elizabeth, Missouri) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Luetkemeyer has won every election since 2008. On January 4, 2024, he announced he would not run for reelection in 2024.[15]

US Senate

Boone County, along with the rest of the state of Missouri, is represented in the U.S. Senate by Josh Hawley (R-Columbia) and Eric Schmitt (R-Glendale). However, their Democratic opponents carried Boone County in each of their respective most recent elections.

Blunt was elected to a second term in 2016 over then-Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander.

Missouri presidential preference primaries

2020

The 2020 presidential primaries for both the Democratic and Republican parties were held in Missouri on March 10. On the Democratic side, former Vice President Joe Biden (D-Delaware) both won statewide by a wide margin and carried a majority in Boone County. Biden went on to defeat President Donald Trump in the general election.

Incumbent President Donald Trump (R-Florida) faced a primary challenge from former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, but won both Boone County and statewide by overwhelming margins.

2016

The 2016 presidential primaries for both the Republican and Democratic parties were held in Missouri on March 15. Businessman Donald Trump (R-New York) narrowly won the state overall, but Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) carried a plurality of the vote in Boone County. Trump went on to win the nomination and the presidency.

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-New York) narrowly won statewide, but Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) won Boone County by a wide margin.

2012

The 2012 Missouri Republican Presidential Primary's results were nonbinding on the state's national convention delegates. Voters in Boone County supported former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), who finished first in the state at large, but eventually lost the nomination to former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts). Delegates to the congressional district and state conventions were chosen at a county caucus, which selected a delegation favoring Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas). Incumbent President Barack Obama easily won the Missouri Democratic Primary and renomination. He defeated Romney in the general election.

2008

In 2008, the Missouri Republican Presidential Primary was closely contested, with Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) prevailing and eventually winning the nomination. Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts) won a plurality in Boone County.

Then-Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) received more votes than any candidate from either party in Boone County during the 2008 presidential primary. Despite initial reports that Hillary Clinton (D-New York), also a senator at the time, had won Missouri, Obama narrowly defeated her statewide and later became that year's Democratic nominee, going on to win the presidency.

Public safety

The Boone County Sheriff has jurisdiction over the whole county. The Boone County Fire Protection District (BCFPD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services for a large portion of Boone County, Missouri.[16] The BCFPD is the largest volunteer fire department and third largest fire service organization in the state, protecting 492sqmi of residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural property and over 50,000 people.[16] The Boone County Fire District maintains 15 fire stations, a training center, and a headquarters facility.[17]

History

Prior to 1964, there was no organized fire protection in Boone County. This changed after an elderly handicapped woman died in a house fire just west of the city limits of Columbia. A small group of CB radio enthusiasts, known as the Central Missouri Radio Squad, banded together to develop a fire protection system for Boone County.[18]

USAR Task Force

See main article: Urban Search and Rescue Missouri Task Force 1. Boone County Fire is the sponsoring agency of Urban Search and Rescue Missouri Task Force 1 (MO-TF1), which is one of 28 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces across the United States.[19] The team is made up of 210 members that are qualified in various aspects of urban search and rescue.[20]

Notable people

See also

Further reading

External links

38.9516°N -92.3286°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2020 Population and Housing State Data . United States Census Bureau . August 30, 2021 .
  2. Book: How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named . The State Historical Society of Missouri . Eaton, David Wolfe . 1916 . 211.
  3. http://www.missouridivision-scv.org/littledixie.htm The Story of Little Dixie, Missouri, Missouri Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
  4. T. J. Stiles, Jesse James: The Last Rebel of the Civil War, New York: Vintage Books, 2003, pp.10–11
  5. PAPERS RELATING TO FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ACCOMPANYING THE ANNUAL MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE SECOND SESSION THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, PART IV, APPENDIX TO DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE OF 1865; THE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM H. SEWARD, SECRETARY OF STATE, AND FREDERICK W. SEWARD, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, ON THE EVENING OF April 14, 1865; EXPRESSIONS OF CONDOLENCE AND SYMPATHY INSPIRED BY THESE EVENTS; Foreign Relations of the United States; Washington DC, 1866, Document 1090
  6. Web site: 2010 Census Gazetteer Files . https://web.archive.org/web/20131021170230/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_29.txt . dead . October 21, 2013 . United States Census Bureau . November 13, 2014 . August 22, 2012 .
  7. Web site: U.S. Census website . . May 14, 2011 .
  8. https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/registeredvoters/2022
  9. Web site: P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Boone County, Missouri.
  10. Web site: Breeding . Marshall . Centralia Public Library . Libraries.org . May 8, 2017.
  11. Web site: Breeding . Marshall . Daniel Boone Regional Library . Libraries.org . May 8, 2017.
  12. Web site: Southern Boone County Public Library.
  13. Web site: Holts Summit Public Library Now Open.
  14. Web site: Columbia Public Library.
  15. Web site: Brooks . Emily . 2024-01-04 . Missouri Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer to retire . The Hill . Nexstar Media Inc..
  16. Web site: Fun Facts. Boone County Fire. May 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150524074234/http://www.bcfdmo.com/aboutbcfpd/fun%5Ffacts/. May 24, 2015. dead.
  17. Web site: Boone County Fire Protection District. Bcfdmo.coma. November 16, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120215050153/http://www.bcfdmo.com/services/facilities_equip_personnel/stations/BCFPD_Stations1.pdf. February 15, 2012. dead.
  18. Web site: History. Boone County Fire Protection District. May 27, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101107221022/http://www.bcfdmo.com/aboutbcfpd/history/. November 7, 2010.
  19. Web site: US&R Task Force Locations . FEMA . August 28, 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120705001444/http://www.fema.gov/emergency/usr/locations.shtm . July 5, 2012 .
  20. Web site: USAR Task Force. Boone County Fire. May 22, 2015.