Lafayette 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 ...

in the western portion 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 ...

, part of the

Kansas City metropolitan area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,984. 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 Lexington. The county was organized November 16, 1820, from Cooper County and originally named Lillard County for James Lillard of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, who served in the first state constitutional convention and first state legislature. It was renamed Lafayette County on February 16, 1825, in honor of Revolutionary War hero the

Marquis de La Fayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

, who was then visiting the United States.

History

Lafayette County was settled primarily from migrants from the

Upper South The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, economics, demographics, ...

ern states of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. They brought enslaved people and slaveholding traditions and started cultivating crops similar to those in

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

and Kentucky:

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. Peter Youree (1843-1914) was born here to merchant P. E. Youree and the former M. M. Zimmerman. As a young man, he enlisted in the Confederate forces from here, and gained the rank of captain during the American Civil War. Afterward, he settled in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, where he married, became a successful merchant and banker, and served on the Caddo Parish Police Jury. As a result of the migration from the South, this part of Missouri, and neighboring counties, became known as Little Dixie. In 1860 enslaved people made up 25 percent or more of the county's population, and the county was strongly pro- Confederate during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. But immigrants from Germany, as well as German Americans from St. Louis, began arriving shortly before the war, with many more to come afterwards. Many of the Germans were sympathetic to the Union and opposed slavery. They eventually made up a large part of the populations of Concordia, Emma, Wellington, Napoleon, Higginsville, Mayview, and Lexington. After the war, there were racial tensions as whites worked to dominate the freedmen. Following Reconstruction, whites lynched two blacks in the decades around the turn of the century. Sunday May 4, 1919, Lafayette County Sheriff Joseph C. Talbott was killed while transporting car thieves to jail. Also killed were Deputy Sheriff John McDonald and Deputy Constable James Stapleton. On May 29, 1919, Lafayette County held a special election to replace Sheriff Talbott. Sheriff Talbott's wife, Minnie Mae Talbott, won the special election becoming the first woman elected to the office of Sheriff in the United States. Minnie Mae Talbott was sworn into office on June 8, 1919. Minnie Mae Talbott was elected by an all-male electorate. Women would not gain the right to vote until August 1920, with ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

21st century

In November 2013, Leland Ray Kolkmeyer pleaded guilty, in federal court, of a fraud scheme in which he embezzled more than $1.5 million from Wellington-Napoleon Fire Protection District and Special Road District while serving as their treasurer.

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

* Ray County (northwest) * Carroll County (northeast) * Saline County (east) * Johnson County (south) * Jackson County (west) * Pettis County (southeast)

Major highways

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...

* U.S. Route 24 * U.S. Route 40 * U.S. Route 65 * Route 13 * Route 20 * Route 23 * Route 131 * Route 213 * Route 224

National protected area

* Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (part)

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 32,960 people, 12,569 households, and 9,099 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 13,707 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.52%

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 ...

, 2.27%

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 ...

, 0.29% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.03%

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 ...

, 0.51% from other races, and 1.12% from two or more races. Approximately 1.17% 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. 37.3% were of German, 17.5% American, 9.9% English and 9.7% Irish ancestry. There were 12,569 households, out of which 33.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.30% 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, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.20% 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 3.01. In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.20% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 15.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $38,235, and the median income for a family was $45,717. Males had a median income of $31,972 versus $22,684 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 $18,493. About 6.90% of families and 8.80% 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 10.90% of those under age 18 and 9.10% of those ages 65 or over.

2020 Census

Education

School districts which cover any part of the county, no matter how slight, include: * Concordia R-II School District * Lafayette County C-1 School District * Lexington R-V School District * Oak Grove R-VI School District (has schools in another county) * Odessa R-VII School District * Richmond R-XVI School District * Santa Fe R-X School District * Wellington-Napoleon R-IX School District

Public schools

*Concordia R-II School District – Concordia **Concordia Elementary School (PK-06) **Concordia High School (07-12) *Lafayette County C-1 School District – Higginsville **Grandview Elementary School (PK-05) **Lafayette County Middle School (06-08) **Lafayette County High School (09-12) *Lexington R-V School District – Lexington **Leslie Bell Elementary School (PK-04) **Lexington Middle School (05-08) **Lexington High School (09-12) *Odessa R-VII School District –

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

**McQuerry Elementary School (K-02) **Odessa Upper Elementary School (03-05) **Odessa Middle School (06-08) **Odessa High School (09-12) *Santa Fe R-X School District – Alma **Santa Fe Elementary School (K-06) **Santa Fe High School (07-12) *Wellington-Napoleon R-IX School District –

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

**Wellington-Napoleon Elementary School (PK-06) **Wellington-Napoleon High School (07-12)

Private schools

*Trinity Lutheran School – Alma (K-09) –

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 ...

*Holy Cross Lutheran School – Emma (PK-08) –

*Immanuel Lutheran School – Higginsville (K-09) –

*Victory Christian Fellowship School – Waverly (K-12) – Nondenominational Christian * St. Paul Lutheran High School – Concordia (09-12) –

*St. Paul's Lutheran School – Concordia (K-8) –

Public libraries

*Robertson Memorial Library *Trails Regional Library

Colleges and universities

Metropolitan Community College has the school districts in this county in its service area, but not its in-district taxation area.

Politics

Local

The Republican Party mostly controls politics at the local level in Lafayette County. Republicans hold all but three of the elected positions in the county.

State

Lafayette County is divided into two legislative districts 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 ...

, both of which are held by Republicans. *District 33 — Donna Pfautsch (R- Harrisonville). Consists of the community of Oak Grove. *District 53 – Glen Kolkmeyer (R-

). Consists of almost all of the county. All of Lafayette County is a part of Missouri's 21st 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 by Denny Hoskins (R- Warrensburg).

Federal

All of Lafayette County is included in Missouri's 5th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Emanuel Cleaver (D-

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Communities

Cities and towns

* Alma * Aullville * Bates City *

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

(part) * Concordia * Corder *

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

* Emma (part) * Higginsville * Lake Lafayette * Lexington (county seat) * Mayview *

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

* Oak Grove (part) *

* Waverly *

Unincorporated communities

* Chapel Hill * Ernestville * Greenton * Hodge * Myrick * Page City * Tabeau * Waterloo

References

External links

Lafayette County Website

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 {{authority control Little Dixie (Missouri) Missouri counties on the Missouri River 1820 establishments in Missouri Territory Populated places established in 1820