Holt County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the northwestern portion of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,223. Its

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. The county was organized February 15, 1841. Originally named Nodaway County, it was soon renamed for David Rice Holt (1803–1840), a Missouri state legislator from Platte County.

History

The original area of Holt County was much larger than its present area. When it was first organized it was comprised by the current Holt County boundary, all of Atchison County, that part of Nodaway County west of the Nodaway River, and the aforementioned claim extended ten miles north into southwestern

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

; An area more than 1,350 square miles in all. The first Post Office in Holt County opened in 1839 and was located on Thorp's Creek near Oregon. It was known as Thorp's Mill and closed in 1841. In 1972, the Holt County Historical Society was established. Holt County was impacted by the 2019 Midwestern U.S. floods. About of the that flooded in spring 2019 were still underwater in late October. Some of the floodwater was expected to freeze in place over the winter.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.6%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Atchison County (north) * Nodaway County (northeast) * Andrew County (southeast) * Doniphan County, Kansas (south) * Brown County, Kansas (southwest) *

Richardson County, Nebraska Richardson County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,871. Its county seat is Falls City. In the Nebraska license plate system, Richardson County is represented by the prefix ...

(west) * Nemaha County, Nebraska (northwest)

Major highways

* Interstate 29 * U.S. Route 59 * U.S. Route 159 * Route 111 * Route 113 * Route 118

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 5,351 people, 2,237 households, and 1,503 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 2,931 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.47%

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 ...

, 0.11%

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 ...

, 0.47% Native American, 0.07% 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 ...

, 0.11% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. Approximately 0.39% 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 2,237 households, out of which 28.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% 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, 6.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.80% were non-families. 29.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.91. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.80% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 21.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $29,461, and the median income for a family was $35,685. Males had a median income of $26,966 versus $17,846 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 $15,876. About 10.50% of families and 13.00% 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 15.90% of those under age 18 and 11.90% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

Education

Public schools

*Craig R-III School District – Craig **Craig Elementary School (K-06) **Craig High School (07-12) *Mound City R-II School District – Mound City **Mound City Elementary School (PK-04) **Mound City Middle School (05-08) **Mound City High School (09-12) * Nodaway-Holt R-VII School District – Maitland and Graham **Nodaway-Holt Elementary School (K-06) **Nodaway-Holt Junior/Senior High School (07-12) *South Holt County R-I School District –

**South Holt County Elementary School (K-06) **South Holt County High School (07-12)

Public libraries

*Mound City Public Library *Oregon Public Library

Points of interest

* Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge (formerly Squaw Creek) * Big Lake State Park on Big Lake * St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Corning, Missouri

Communities

Cities

* Craig * Forest City * Maitland * Mound City *

(county seat)

Villages

* Big Lake * Bigelow * Fortescue

Townships

* Benton * Bigelow *

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

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Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...

* Lewis *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Lincoln * Minton * Nodaway * Union

Unincorporated communities

* New Point

Extinct places

* Corning * Curzon * Kings Grove * Napier * Nichols Grove * Richville * Whig Valley

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Holt County. † ''county seat''

Notable people

* Frank McGrath - actor, born in Mound City in 1903 * Charles C. Moore - 13th Governor of Idaho; born in Holt County. * Roger Wehrli - NFL athlete inducted into the Hall of Fame, born in New Point

Politics

Local

The Republican Party predominantly controls politics at the local level in Holt County. Republicans hold all but one of the elected positions in the county.

State

All of Holt County is a part of Missouri's 1st District in the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

and is represented by
Allen Andrews
(R- Grant City). All of Holt County is a part of Missouri's 12th District in the

Missouri Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 181,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

and is currently represented b
Dan Hegeman
(R- Cosby).

Federal

All of Holt County is included in Missouri's 6th Congressional District and is currently represented by Sam Graves (R- Tarkio) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Political culture

Missouri presidential preference primary (2008)

U.S. Senator and former First Lady

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

(D- New York) received more votes, a total of 283, than any candidate from either party in Holt County during the 2008 presidential primary.

References

External links

Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Holt County
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 * * Digital Public Library of America
Items related to Holt County, Missouri
various dates {{coord, 40.09, -95.21, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MO_source:UScensus1990 Missouri counties 1841 establishments in Missouri Populated places established in 1841 Missouri counties on the Missouri River