Pike 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 ...

on the eastern border 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 ...

, bounded 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,587. 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 ...

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

. Its namesake was a city in middle Kentucky, a region from where many early migrants came. The county was organized December 14, 1818, and named for explorer

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first ...

. The folksong " Sweet Betsy from Pike" is generally thought to be associated with Pike County, Missouri. Pike County is said to be the home of Momo (The Missouri Monster). The first reported sightings in the 1970s were traced to various locations throughout the county.

History

The first settler other than native americans was William Spencer in 1799. Spencer came for a salt spring now known as Spencer Lick to start a salt manufacturing business. The salt was made to be shipped to St. Louis, a new but growing town at the time. Spencer abandoned his business when unfriendly native americans became a threat to his safety. He relocated the enterprise to Ralls County. The history of Pike County is complicated by the fact that at its establishment in 1818, it included today's boundaries plus all counties north of it, plus the counties bordering all of them on the west, in total over 6 or 7 times larger than its current size, and thus covering the northeast border area of today's State of Missouri. Pike county and the counties north of it were gradually reduced in size by the creation of Ralls and subsequent new counties including Marion, Lewis, Clark, Scotland, Knox, Shelby, and Monroe. The county was first settled by migrants from the Upper South. Some, though not all, were sympathetic to the Confederate cause in later decades. After the end of the post-Civil-War

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 ...

, some of the county's inhabitants enforced

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

laws and racial segregation in the county to maintain what has been labeled by some as "

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

". This occurred despite the fact that key US/Unionist military operations to control "Confederate" upstarts were launched from Pike County and had bases there. Five African Americans were tragically lynched in Pike County between 1883 and 1921. Among those were Curtis and Sam Young, who were both lynched for allegedly murdering the city marshall, Walter Meloan, on June 6, 1898, in Clarksville,"Lynching in Missouri"
Saline County, Missouri/GenWeb Project a small town on the Mississippi River.Missouri Negro Industrial Commission (data from NAACP), ''Biennial Report of the Missouri Negro Industrial Commission''
Hugh Stephens Press, 1922, p. 79 Pike tied with

Howard County, Missouri Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri, with its southern border formed by the Missouri River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 10,151. Its county seat is Fayette, Missouri, Fayette. Settled o ...

for the highest number of lynchings of African Americans in the state during this historical period.''Lynching in America''/ ''Supplement: Lynchings by County, 3rd edition''
, Montgomery, Alabama: Equal Justice Initiative, 2015, p. 7

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.1%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Ralls County (northwest) *

Pike County, Illinois Pike County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located between the Mississippi River and the Illinois River in western Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 14,739. Its county seat is Pitts ...

(northeast) * Calhoun County, Illinois (east) * Lincoln County (south) * Montgomery County (southwest) * Audrain County (west)

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 ...

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, Trade name, doing business as CPKC (known as Canadian Pacific Railway Limited until 2023), is a Canadian railway holding company. Through its primary operating railroad subsidiaries, Canadian Pacific Railw ...

Major highways

* * * * * * * * * * GreatRiverRoad

Great River Road The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miss ...

Former roadways

* Red Ball Route * Mississippi River Scenic Route * Route 9 * Route 22 * Route 26 * Route 29

National protected area

* Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge

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 2010, there were 18,516 people, 6,451 households, and 4,476 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 7,493 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 88.44%

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 ...

, 9.17%

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 ...

, 0.24% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 0.92% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Approximately 1.61% 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. 24.6% were of American, 24.5% German, 8.9% English and 8.5% Irish ancestry. There were 6,451 households, out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% 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, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.60% were non-families. 26.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.01. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.40% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 119.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 123.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,373, and the median income for a family was $39,059. Males had a median income of $28,528 versus $19,426 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 $14,462. 15.50% of the population and 11.90% of families 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 ...

. 20.20% of those under the age of 18 and 15.20% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

2020 Census

Education

K-12 school districts with any amount of territory in the county, no matter how slight, include:
Text list
/ref> * Bowling Green R-I School District * Louisiana R-II School District * Pike County R-III School District * Ralls County R-II School District * Silex R-I School District * Van-Far R-I School District * Wellsville-Middletown R-I School District There is one elementary school district, Boncl R-X School District.

Public schools

*Boncl R-X School District –

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

**Boncl Elementary School (PK-08) * Bowling Green R-I School District –

**Bowling Green Elementary School (PK-05) **Frankford Elementary School (K-05) **Bowling Green Middle School (06-08) **Bowling Green High School (09-12) * Louisiana R-II School District –

**Louisiana Elementary School (PK-05) **Louisiana Middle School (06-08) **Louisiana High School (09-12) * Pike County R-III School District – Clarksville **Clopton Elementary School (PK-06) **Clopton High School (07-12)

Private schools

*Pike County Christian School – Curryville (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 ...

*St. Clement School –

(K-09) –

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

*Bowling Green Free Public Library *Clarksville Public Library * Louisiana Public Library

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * Clarksville * Curryville * Frankford *

Villages

* Annada * Ashburn * Eolia * Paynesville * Tarrants

Census-designated places

* Ashley * St. Clement

Other unincorporated places

* Booth * Calumet * Cyrene * Edgewood * Estes *

Farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

Gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

* Kissenger * McCune * McIntosh * New Harmony * New Hartford * Sledd * Spencerburg * Stark *

Vera Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarr ...

Politics

Local

The Republican Party predominantly controls politics at the county level in Pike County, with Republicans holding many of the elected positions, with exceptions as stated below. Note that, per the tables below, Republican Pike County voters prevailed in Missouri gubernatorial elections of 2016 and 2004, and came close to a tie for dominance in 2012, followed by a clear overtaking of county politics in 2016, in contrast with a tradition of nominal Democratic party affiliations of county-level officials.

State

Pike County is a part of Missouri's 40th 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 Chad Perkins (R-

). Pike County is a part of Missouri's 18th 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 Brian Munzlinger (R- Williamstown).

Federal

Pike County is included in Missouri's 6th Congressional District and is currently represented by

Sam Graves Samuel Bruce Graves Jr. (born November 7, 1963) is an American politician best known for serving in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives for , with him being the dean of Missouri's congressional districts, Mi ...

(R- Tarkio) in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Missouri presidential preference primary (2008)

Former U.S. Senator

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 1,447, than any candidate from either party in Pike County during the 2008 presidential primary. She also received more votes individually than the entire number of votes cast in the Republican Primary in Pike County.

References

External links

Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Pike 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 *Pike County website linking to government agencies: http://www.pikecountymo.net/ * ww.pikecountymo.org/ Pike County Development Authority* {{coord, 39.34, -91.17, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MO_source:UScensus1990 1818 establishments in Missouri Territory Populated places established in 1818 Missouri counties on the Mississippi River