Bunceton is a city in

Cooper County, Missouri Cooper County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,103. Its county seat is Boonville. The county was organized December 17, 1818, and named for Sarshell Co ...

, United States. The population was 354 at the 2010 census.

History

Bunceton was laid out and

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1868. The city was named for Harvey Bunce, an early county resident. A post office has been in operation at Bunceton since 1868. In 1980, Bunceton elected the United States' first openly gay mayor, Gerald Ulrich.

Geography

The town is located on

Missouri Route J A supplemental route is a state secondary road in the U.S. state of Missouri, designated with letters. Supplemental routes were various roads within the state which the Missouri Department of Transportation was given in 1952 to maintain in addit ...

, three miles east of

Missouri Route 5 Missouri Route 5 is the longest state highway in Missouri and the only Missouri state highway to traverse the entire state. To the north, it continues into Iowa as Iowa Highway 5 and to the south it enters Arkansas as Arkansas Highway 5 as pa ...

. Bunceton is on the Stevens Branch tributary of Petite Saline Creek.''Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer,'' DeLorme, 1998, First edition, p. 37, According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

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 2010, there were 354 people, 140 households, and 97 families living in the city. 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 182 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.5%

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 ...

, 4.2%

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 ...

, 0.3% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races.

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 were 0.8% of the population. There were 140 households, of which 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 9.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 30.7% were non-families. Of all households 25.7% were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age in the city was 36.6 years. Of residents, 25.1% were under the age of 18; 9.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.6% were from 25 to 44; 28.5% were from 45 to 64; and 10.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 348 people, 152 households, and 93 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 182 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.80%

, 6.90%

, 0.57% Native American, and 1.72% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.29% of the population. There were 152 households, out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were

living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% were non-families. Of all households 32.2% were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.89. In the city the population was spread out, with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,917, and the median income for a family was $33,750. Males had a median income of $21,696 versus $19,167 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 city was $13,202. About 7.3% of families and 11.1% 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 11.4% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Cooper County R-IV, also known as Bunceton School, serves kindergarten through twelfth grade.

References

External links

* Historic maps of Bunceton in th
Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection
at the

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 ...

{{authority control Cities in Cooper County, Missouri Cities in Missouri 1868 establishments in Missouri Columbia metropolitan area (Missouri)