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Shannon 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 southern portion 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 7,031. 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 Eminence. The county was officially organized on January 29, 1841, and was named in honor of George F. "Peg-Leg" Shannon, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It is the second-largest county by area in Missouri. Missouri's first copper mine was opened in Shannon County in 1846 and Missouri's only
manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...
mine was opened here during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. As of the 2000 census, Shannon County ranked 78th on the list of counties with the lowest per capita income and 46th on the list of counties with the lowest median household incomes in the United States, making it the poorest county in Missouri.


History

The Great Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925, appears to have begun in Moore Township; most likely as constituent
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
es of a tornado family preceding the infamous very long track tornado that went on to kill 695 people across southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwestern Indiana over the next several hours.


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.02%) is water.


Adjacent counties

* Dent County (north) * Reynolds County (east) * Carter County (southeast) * Oregon County (south) * Howell County (southwest) * Texas County (west)


Major highways

* U.S. Route 60 * Route 19 * Route 99 * Route 106


National protected areas

* Mark Twain National Forest (part) * Ozark National Scenic Riverways (part)


Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,324 people, 3,319 households, and 2,356 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 3,862 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.05%
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 ...
, 0.17%
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 ...
or
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 ...
, 1.83% Native American, 0.05% 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 ...
, 0.19% from other races, and 2.69% from two or more races. Approximately 0.93% 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. Among the major first ancestries reported in Shannon County were 38.3% American, 13.4% Irish, 11.8% German, and 9.7% English. There were 3,319 households, out of which 32.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.80% were married couples living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.40% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 25.30% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $24,835, and the median income for a family was $30,102. Males had a median income of $21,917 versus $16,024 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,127. About 21.00% of families and 26.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.10% of those under age 18 and 20.20% of those age 65 or over.


Religion

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives County Membership Report (2000), Shannon County is a part of the Bible Belt with evangelical Protestantism being the majority religion. The most predominant denominations among residents in Shannon County who adhere to a religion are Southern Baptists (56.22%), Methodists (12.03%), and Christian Churches & Churches of Christ (10.84%).


2020 Census


Politics


Local

The Republican Party predominantly controls politics at the local level in Shannon County. Republicans hold seven of the elected positions in the county.


State

In the Missouri House of Representatives, all of Shannon County is a part of Missouri's 143rd District and is currently represented by Jeff Pogue, (R- Salem). 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 ...
, all of Shannon County is a part of Missouri's 25th District and is currently represented by Doug Libla, (R- Poplar Bluff).


Federal

Shannon County is included in Missouri's 8th Congressional District and is currently represented by Jason T. Smith (R- Salem) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Smith won a special election on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, to finish out the remaining term of U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R- Cape Girardeau). Emerson announced her resignation a month after being reelected with over 70 percent of the vote in the district. She resigned to become CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative. }


Political culture

At the presidential level, Shannon County was a Democratic stronghold from its founding in 1841 through 1996, voting Republican only in 1960, for Nixon over Kennedy, and in Nixon's
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
and Reagan's 1984 landslides in this period. In
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
,
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
became only the fourth Republican to carry the county, despite narrowly losing the national popular vote, and got a higher vote share than any of the three Republicans to carry the county previously. As of
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
, the county has voted Republican for six straight elections, with the Republican vote share increasing in every election save 2008, when McCain fell six points from Bush's
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
level. Like most rural areas throughout Southeast Missouri, voters in Shannon County generally adhere to socially and culturally conservative principles. In 2004, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman—it overwhelmingly passed Shannon County with 85.64 percent of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71 percent of support from voters as Missouri became the first state to ban
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
. In 2006, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state—it failed in Shannon County with 55.87 percent voting against the measure. The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51 percent of support from voters as Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve embryonic stem cell research. Despite Shannon County's longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing populist causes like increasing the
minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
. In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Shannon County with 74.62 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 75.94 percent voting in favor as the minimum wage was increased to $6.50 an hour in the state. During the same election, voters in five other states also strongly approved increases in the minimum wage.


Missouri presidential preference primary (2008)

In the 2008 presidential primary, voters in Shannon County from both political parties supported candidates who finished in second place in the state at large and nationally. 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 914, than any candidate from either party in Shannon County during the 2008 presidential primary.


Education

Of adults 25 years of age and older, 44.9% possesses a high school diploma or higher while 9.6% holds a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
or higher as their highest educational attainment.


Public Schools


Birch Tree Elementary School
Birch Tree
Eminence R-I School District
Eminence **Eminence Elementary School (PK-06) **Eminence High School (07-12)
Winona R-III School District
Winona **Winona Elementary School (PK-08) **Winona High School (09-12)


Public libraries

*Birch Tree City Library *Eminence Public Library * Winona Public Library


Communities


Cities

* Birch Tree * Eminence (county seat) * Summersville (partly in Texas County) * Winona


Census-designated place

* Montier


Other unincorporated places

* Akers * Alley Spring * Bartlett *
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
* Deslet * Flatwood * Gang * Low Wassie * Midridge * Munsell * Not * Oakside * Owls Bend * Rat * Round Spring * Shannondale * Shawnee * Teresita *
Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
*
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
* West Eminence


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Shannon County, Missouri


References


External links


Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Scott 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
A Portrait of the Ozarks Part I - Shannon County: Home
from Missouri State University Libraries
A Portrait of the Ozarks Part II - Shannon County: Hearts of the Children
from Missouri State University Libraries {{authority control 1841 establishments in Missouri Populated places established in 1841