Lincoln County is located in the eastern part 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 59,574. 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 ...

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

. The county was founded December 14, 1818, and named for Major General Benjamin Lincoln of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Lincoln County is part of the St. Louis, MO- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. 6th Congressional District ot 3rd

History

According to Goodspeed's ''History of Lincoln County, Missouri'' (1888), Lincoln County was named by Major Christopher Clark, the first permanent white settler in an address to the Territorial Legislature. He said, "I was born, sir, in Link-Horn County, N.C., I lived for many years in Link-Horn County in old Kain-tuck. I wish to die in Link-Horn County, in

; and I move, therefore, that the blank in the bill be filled with the name Link-Horn." The motion was carried unanimously and the clerk, not adopting the frontier parlance of the Major, wrote "Lincoln" in the blank space of the bill. Others say it was named for Major General Benjamin Lincoln, who served in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.2%) is water. The county's eastern border with Illinois is formed by the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

Adjacent counties

* Pike County (north) * Calhoun County, Illinois (east) * St. Charles County (southeast) * Warren County (southwest) * Montgomery County (west)

Major highways

* U.S. Route 61 * Route 47 * Route 79 * Route 147

Transit

* Burlington Trailways * OATS Transit

Railroads

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

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 38,944 people, 13,851 households, and 10,554 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 15,511 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.13%

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 ...

, 1.74%

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 ...

, 0.37% Native American, 0.17% 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 ...

, 0.43% from other races, and 1.14% from two or more races. Approximately 1.14% 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. 37.7% were of German, 17.0% American, 10.9% Irish and 7.4% English ancestry. There were 13,851 households, out of which 40.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.50% were married couples living together, 10.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.80% were non-families. 19.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.17. In the county, the population was spread out, with 30.00% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 30.20% from 25 to 44, 21.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $42,592, and the median income for a family was $47,747. Males had a median income of $35,564 versus $23,270 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 $17,149. About 6.20% of families and 8.30% 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 9.60% of those under age 18 and 9.00% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

Education

Public schools

School districts include: * Silex R-I School District – Silex **Silex Elementary School (K-06) ** Silex High School (07-12) * Elsberry R-II School District – Elsberry **Clarence Cannon Elementary School (PK-04) **Ida Cannon Middle School (05-08) **Elsberry High School (09-12) * Lincoln County R-III School District –

**Early Childhood Education Center (Pre-K & PAT) **Boone Elementary School (K-05) **Claude Brown Elementary School (K-05) **Cuivre Park Elementary School (K-05) **Hawk Point Elementary School (K-05) **Lincoln Elementary School (K-05) **Main Street Elementary School (K-05) **William R. Cappel Elementary School (K-05) **Troy Middle School (06-08) **Troy South Middle School (06-08) **Ninth Grade Center (09) ** Troy Buchanan High School (10-12) **New Horizons High School (10-12) * Winfield R-IV School District – Winfield **Winfield Elementary School (PK-02) **Winfield Intermediate School (03-05) **Winfield Middle School (06-08) **Winfield High School (09-12) * Wright City R-II School District - Wright City **Additionally, the Wright City R-II serves southern portions of Lincoln County. * Pike County R-III School District * Warren County R-III School District

Private schools

*Calvary Christian School – Winfield (01-12) –

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

*First Baptist Christian Academy -

(K-08) -

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 ...

*Immaculate Conception School – Old Monroe (K-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 ...

*Sacred Heart School –

(K-08) –

*St. Alphonsus School – Silex (PK-08) –

*Troy Holiness School –

(K-12) –

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Public libraries

* Powell Memorial Library

Communities

Cities and villages

Cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

* Chain of Rocks * Elsberry * Foley * Fountain N' Lakes * Hawk Point * Moscow Mills * Old Monroe * Silex *

(county seat) * Truxton * Whiteside * Winfield

Unincorporated communities

* Apex * Argentville * Auburn * Brevator * Briscoe * Brussells * Cap au Gris * Chantilly * Corso * Dameron * Davis * Ethlyn * Fairview * Famous * Louisville * Mackville * Millwood * New Hope * Okete * Olney * South Troy

Politics

Local

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

State

Lincoln County is divided into two legislative districts in the Missouri House of Representatives. *District 40 — Chad Perkins (R- Bowling Green). Consists of the northernmost section of the county. *District 41 — Doyle Justus (R-

). Consists of most of the county and includes the communities of Cave, Foley Troy, Truxton, and Whiteside. *District 64 �
Tony Lovasco
(R- O'Fallon) Includes the southeast corner of the county and the communities of Chain of Rocks, Fountain N' Lakes, Moscow Mills, Old Monroe, and Winfield. All of Lincoln County is a part of Missouri's 10th 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
Jeanie Riddle
(R- Fulton).

Federal

All of Lincoln County is included in Missouri's 3rd Congressional District and is currently represented by Blaine Luetkemeyer (R- St. Elizabeth) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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 {{Coord, 39.06, -90.96, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MO_source:UScensus1990 Missouri counties on the Mississippi River Regions of Greater St. Louis 1818 establishments in Missouri Territory Populated places established in 1818