Randolph 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 northern 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 24,716. 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 Huntsville. The county was organized January 22, 1829, and named for

U.S. Representative 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 ...

and

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

John Randolph of Roanoke,

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 ...

. Randolph County comprises the Moberly, Missouri Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Columbia-Moberly-

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, Missouri Combined Statistical Area.

History

Randolph County was primarily settled by 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, especially

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

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 ...

. They brought

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and slaveholding traditions with them, and quickly 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 and tobacco. Randolph was one of several counties settled mostly by Southerners to the north and south of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

. Given their culture and traditions, this area became known as Little Dixie, and Randolph County was at its heart. Randolph County was home to

Omar Bradley Omar Nelson Bradley (12 February 1893 – 8 April 1981) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He wa ...

, the last of nine 5-star generals of the American military.

Geography

According to the

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

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.1%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Macon County (north) * Monroe County (east) * Shelby County (northeast) * Audrain County (southeast) * Boone County (southeast) * Howard County (south) * Chariton County (west)

Major highways

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 or U.S. Highway 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926 which runs east and west for most of its routing. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Misso ...

* U.S. Route 63 * Route 3

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 24,663 people, 9,199 households, and 6,236 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 10,740 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 90.58%

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 ...

, 7.03%

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 ...

, 0.48% Native American, 0.39% 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 ...

, 0.24% from other races, and 1.26% 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. 24.1% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 21.4% American, 10.9% English and 9.1% Irish ancestry. There were 9,199 households, out of which 31.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% 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, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.20% were non-families. 27.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.94. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.80% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 29.30% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 107.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,464, and the median income for a family was $39,268. Males had a median income of $26,878 versus $20,366 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 $15,010. About 9.20% of families and 12.50% 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 17.10% of those under age 18 and 13.20% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

Education

Public schools

*Higbee R-VIII School District – Higbee **Higbee Elementary School (K–6) ** Higbee High School (7–12) *Moberly School District – Moberly **North Park Elementary School (K–2) **South Park Elementary School (PK–2) **Gratz Brown Elementary School (3–5) **Moberly Middle School (6–8) **Moberly High School (9–12) *Northeast Randolph County R-IV School District –

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

**Northeast Randolph County Elementary School (PK–5) **Northeast Randolph County High School (6–12) *Renick R-V School District – Renick **Renick Elementary School (PK–8) *Westran R-I School District – Huntsville **Westran Elementary School (PK–5) **Westran Middle School (6–8) **Westran High School (9–12)

Private schools

*St. Pius X Elementary School – Moberly (PK–8) –

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 ...

*Maranatha Seventh-day Adventist School – Moberly (K–9) –

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

Post-secondary

* Central Christian College of the Bible – Moberly– A private, four-year

Christian Churches and Churches of Christ The group of churches known as the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ is a fellowship of congregations within the Restoration Movement (also known as the Stone–Campbell Movement and the Reformation of the 19th Century) that have no form ...

university. * Moberly Area Community College – Moberly – A public, two-year community college.

Public libraries

*Little Dixie Regional Libraries

Communities

Cities

* Clark * Clifton Hill * Higbee * Huntsville (county seat) * Moberly

Villages

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

* Renick

Unincorporated communities

* Darksville * Fort Henry * Harkes * Hubbard * Kimberly * Levick Mill * Milton * Mount Airy * Randolph Springs * Roanoke *

Ryder Ryder System, Inc. is an American transportation and logistics company, specializing in truck rental and leasing, fleet management, supply chain management, and transportation management. It also offers full-service leasing, rental and maint ...

* Thomas Hill * Yates

Politics

Local

The Republican Party mostly controls politics at the local level in Randolph County.

State

Most of Randolph County is a part of Missouri's 6th 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 ...

. The southern portions of the county are in the 44th, 47th, and 48th Districts. *District 6 — Ed Lewis (R- Moberly). *District 44 — John Martin (R). *District 47 — Adrian Plank (D). *District 48 — Tim Taylor (R- Booneville). All of Randolph 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 ...

, represented by Cindy O'Laughlin (R)

Federal

All of Randolph County is included in Missouri's 4th 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, Missouri) 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 ...

References

External links

Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Randolph 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 {{Coord, 39.43, -92.50, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MO_source:UScensus1990 Little Dixie (Missouri) 1829 establishments in Missouri Populated places established in 1829 Columbia metropolitan area (Missouri)