TOWNS
Greene County administrative offices are located at 940 Boonville Road, Springfield, MO 65802; phone: 417-868-4112.
Organized January 2, 1833, from Crawford and Wayne counties and named for Nathaniel Greene, Revolutionary War general. [1]
Greene shares borders with 6 other counties: Polk and Dallas (north), Webster (east), Christian (south), plus Lawrence & Greenfield (west).
Beginnings [2]
The pioneer history of Greene county is that of Southwest Missouri, for the first settlements in this portion of the State were made within what have been, until recently, the boundaries of this county, and upon the first organization into municipal government of that vast parallelogram, 75x100 miles in area, lying in the southwest corner of Missouri, it was all called Greene county.
Prior to the war of 1812 all this portion of Missouri was known as "the Osage country," or country of the Osage Indians, who occupied it from time to time as they hunted in its forests, fished in its streams, and camped in its pleasant places. The first white men to visit the country were some of the early French voyageurs, who came out occasionally from Ste. Genevieve after "the year of the great waters," 1785, and made certain explorations in search of gold and silver. Returning, they reported plenty of lead indications, but none of the precious metals. These Frenchmen belonged to the colony at Ste. Genevieve, and seem to have gone as far west from time to time as into Barry, or perhaps McDonald county, from the description of the country they gave. "It is a land very rough, mountainous, and hard to travel through," said they, "and there are plenty of springs, caves, and fresh water.
HISTORIC SITES