State of Missouri

Missouri

County • County Seat
Atchison • Rock Port
Boone • Columbia
Buchanan • St. Joseph
Callaway • Fulton
Clay • Liberty
Cole • Jefferson City
Greene • Springfield
Howard • Fayette
Jasper • Carthage
Lewis • Monticello
Adair • Kirksville
Andrew • Savannah
Audrain • Mexico
Barry • Cassville
Barton • Lamar
Bates • Butler
Benton • Warsaw
Bollinger • Marble Hill
Boone • Columbia
Butler • Popar Bluff
Caldwell • Kingston
Camden • Camdenton
Cape Girardeau • Jackson
Carroll • Carrollton
Carter • Van Buren
Cass • Harrisonville
Cedar • Stockton
Chariton • Keytesville
Christian • Ozark
Clark • Kahoka
Clinton • Plattsburg
Cooper • Boonville
Crawford • Steelville
Dade • Greenfield
Dallas • Buffalo
Daviess • Gallatin
De Kalb • Maysville
Dent • Salem
Douglas • Ava
Dunklin • Kennett
Franklin • Union
Gasconade • Hermann
Gentry • Albany
Grundy • Trenton
Harrison • Bethay
Henry • Clinton
Hickory • Hermitage
Holt • Oregon
Howell • West Plains
Iron • Ironton
Jackson • Independence
Jasper • Carthage
Jefferson • Hillsboro
Johnson • Warrensburg
Knox • Edina
Laclede • Lebanon
Lafayette • Lexington
Lawrence • Mount Vernon
Lincoln • Troy
Linn • Linneus
Livingston • Chillicothe
Macon • Macon
Madison • Fredericktown
Maries • Vienna
Marion • Palmyra
McDonald • Pineville
Mercer • Princeton
Miller • Tuscumbia
Mississippi • Charleston
Moniteau • California
Monroe • Paris
Montgomery • Montgomery City
Morgan • Versailles
New Madrid • New Madrid
Newton • Neosho
Nodaway • Maryville
Oregon • Alton
Oage • Linn
Ozark • Gainesville
Pemiscot • Caruthersville
Perry • Perryville
Pettis • Sedalia
Phelps • Rolla
Pike • Bowling Green
Platte • Platte City
Polk • Bolivar
Pulaski • Waynesville
Putnam • Unionville
Ralls • New London
Randolph • Huntsville
Ray • Richmond
Reynolds • Centerville
Ripley • Doniphan
Saline • Marshall
Schuyer • Lancaster
Scotland • Memphis
Scott • Benton
Shannon • Eminence
Shelby • Shelbyville
St. Charles • St. Charles
St. Clair • Osceola
St. Louis • Clayton
Ste. Genevieve • Ste. Genevieve
Stoddard • Bloomfield
Stone • Galena
Sullivan • Milan
Taney • Forsyth
Texas • Houston
Vernon • Nevada
Warren • Warrenton
Washington • Potosi
Wayne • Greenville
Webster • Marshfield
Worth • Grant City
Wright • Hartville

Photo: The Missouri River separates agriculture from the city life as it flows past the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. Source: US Dept. of Agreculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Sarah Minor, photographer (photogallery.nrcs.usda.gov).

Capitol: Jefferson City
Largest City: St. Louis
Nickname: The Show Me State
State Bird: Bluebird
State Tree: Flowering Dogwood
State Flower: White Hawthorne
Land Area: 69,700 square miles

Beginnings [1]

Missouri gets its name from a tribe of Sioux Indians of the state called the Missouris. The word "Missouri" often has been construed to mean "muddy water" but the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology has stated it means "town of the large canoes," and authorities have said the Indian syllables from which the word comes mean "wooden canoe people" or "he of the big canoe."

Missouri was admitted as the 24th state in 1821; the state capitol was located in St. Charles until a permanent location was designated. In 1826 Jefferson City was designated Missouri's permanent seat of government; all state records, equipment, and the Great Seal were moved to Jefferson City on October 1st.

State of Missouri, www.sos.mo.gov, accessed October, 2006