Lawrence County is located in the southwest portion of the U.S. state of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, in the area of the Ozarks. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,001. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Mount Vernon. The county was organized in 1845 and named for James Lawrence, a naval officer from the War of 1812 known for his battle cry, "Don't give up the ship!" A previous Lawrence County, established in 1815 with its county seat at what is now

Davidsonville Historic State Park Davidsonville Historic State Park (formerly Old Davidsonville State Park) is a List of Arkansas state parks, Arkansas state park in Randolph County, Arkansas in the United States. Situated on a border between The Ozarks and the Arkansas Delta, t ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, covered much of what is now southern Missouri and the northern third of Arkansas. When the Arkansas Territory was created from Missouri Territory in 1819, some of that earlier county became organized as Lawrence County, Arkansas. Just before that, in 1818, Missouri divided its part of the old Lawrence County into Wayne County and Madison County; with population increases, those counties were later divided into others, including the present Lawrence County.

Racial history

Following the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

, southwestern Missouri became increasingly hostile to African Americans, and whites attacked blacks in Lawrence and other counties, seeking to expel them from the region. An African-American man was lynched in Verona, Missouri on January 26, 1894; his name was not recorded. On August 19, 1901, three men were lynched by a white mob in the county seat, Pierce City, in Lawrence County. The mob also burned down some black homes, and drove roughly 30 families, a total of 300 African Americans, out of the city altogether. Whites took over their properties and the African Americans were never compensated for losses. As a result of such incidents, many African Americans left Southwest Missouri in the early 20th century.Kimberly Harper, ''White Man's Heaven: The Lynching and Expulsion of Blacks in the Southern Ozarks, 1894-1909''
University of Arkansas Press, 2012''Lynching in America''/ ''Supplement: Lynchings by County, 3rd edition''
, Montgomery, Alabama: Equal Justice Initiative, 2015, p. 7 The extrajudicial murders were part of a pattern of discrimination, repeated violence and intimidation of African Americans in southwest Missouri from 1894 to 1909. Whites in Greene conducted a mass lynching of three African-Americans in 1906 in the courthouse square.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water. Ozark Cavefish National Wildlife Refuge is located in Lawrence County.

Adjacent counties

* Dade County (north) * Greene County (northeast) * Christian County (southeast) * Stone County (southeast) * Barry County (south) * Newton County (southwest) * Jasper County (west)

Major highways

* ** * * * *

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 35,204 people, 13,568 households, and 9,728 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 14,789 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.68%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.27%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.76% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.67% from other races, and 1.37% from two or more races. Approximately 3.39% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 13,568 households, out of which 33.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.90% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.30% were non-families. 24.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.03. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.20% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 15.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,239, and the median income for a family was $36,846. Males had a median income of $27,309 versus $18,990 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $15,399. About 11.00% of families and 14.10% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 19.50% of those under age 18 and 11.80% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

Education

Public schools

*Aurora R-VIII School District –

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

**Pate Early Childhood Center (PK-02) **Robinson Elementary School (03-04) **Robinson Intermediate School (05-06) **Aurora Junior High School (07-08) **Aurora High School (09-12) *Marionville R-IX School District – Marionville **Marionville Elementary School (PK-05) **Marionville Middle School (06-08) **Marionville High School (09-12) *Miller R-II School District – Miller **Central Elementary School (K-06) **Miller High School (07-12) *Mt. Vernon R-V School District – Mt. Vernon **Mt. Vernon Elementary School (PK-02) **Mt. Vernon Intermediate School (03-05) **Mt. Vernon Middle School (06-08) **Mt. Vernon High School (09-12) *Pierce City R-VI School District – Pierce City **Central Elementary School (PK-05) **Pierce City Middle School (06-08) **Pierce City High School (09-12) *Verona R-VII School District – Verona **Verona Elementary School (PK-06) **Verona High School (07-12)

Private schools

*Aurora Christian Academy –

(K-12) –

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

(Special Education Emphasis) *Harvest Christian Academy –

(K-12) – Nondenominational Christian *Round Grove Christian Academy – Miller (PK-09) –

*Trinity Lutheran School – Freistatt (PK-08) –

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

*St. Mary’s Catholic School – Pierce City (PK-08) –

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Public libraries

*Barry-Lawrence Regional Library

Communities

Cities

* Marionville * Miller * Monett * Mount Vernon (county seat) * Pierce City * Stotts City * Verona

Villages

* Freistatt * Halltown * Hoberg

Census-designated place

* Chesapeake

Other unincorporated places

* Albatross * Bowers Mill * Clarkson * Elliott * Grays Point * Heatonville * Lawrenceburg * Logan *

McKinley McKinley may refer to: People *McKinley (name), a page for people with the surname and given name "McKinley" **William McKinley, 25th president of the United States. Places Philippines * Fort William McKinley (now Fort Bonifacio) in Metro Ma ...

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

* Olinger *

Opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...

* Orange * Paris Springs Junction * Phelps * Plew * Red Oak * Rescue * Round Grove * Spencer * Stinson

Politics

Local

The Republican Party completely controls politics at the local level in Lawrence County. Republicans hold all elected positions in the county.

State

Lawrence County is divided into two legislative districts in the Missouri House of Representatives, both of which are held by Republicans. *District 157 — Mike Moon (R- Ash Grove). Consists of most of the entire county. *District 158 — Scott Fitzpatrick (R- Shell Knob). Consists of a part of the southwest corner of the county, including about half of Pierce City. All of Lawrence County is a part of Missouri's 29th District in the Missouri Senate and is currently represented by David Sater (R- Cassville.

Federal

All of Lawrence County is included in Missouri's 7th Congressional District and is currently represented by Billy Long (R- Springfield) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Political culture

Missouri presidential preference primary (2008)

Voters in Lawrence County from both political parties supported candidates who finished in second place in the state at large and nationally. Former

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Mike Huckabee (R-

) received more votes, a total of 2,628, than any candidate from either party in Lawrence County during the 2008 presidential primary.

References

External links

from

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books * https://www.webcitation.org/609AsaFfq?url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/29/29109.html {{coord, 37.11, -93.83, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MO_source:UScensus1990 1845 establishments in Missouri Populated places established in 1845