Waynesville, Missouri

Waynesville, Missouri
—  City  —
Location of Waynesville, Missouri
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Missouri
County Pulaski
Area
 • Total 6.2 sq mi (16.2 km2)
 • Land 6.2 sq mi (16.1 km2)
 • Water 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation 807 ft (246 m)
Population (2000)
 • Total 3,507
 • Density 563.3/sq mi (217.5/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code 65583
Area code(s) 573
FIPS code 29-77992[1]
GNIS feature ID 0752786[2]

Waynesville is a city in Pulaski County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,507 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pulaski County[3] and is located in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks. It was one of the communities served by historic Route 66.

Contents

Geography

Waynesville is located at (37.820218, -92.213661)[4].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.2 square miles (16.2 km²), of which 6.2 square miles (16.1 km²) is land and 0.16% is water.

Demographics

At the 2000 census[1], there were 3,507 people, 1,428 households and 922 families residing in the city. The population density was 563.3 per square mile (217.3/km²). There were 1,591 housing units at an average density of 255.6 per square mile (98.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.70% White, 10.98% African American, 0.94% Native American, 2.88% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 1.43% from other races, and 3.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.11% of the population.

There were 1,428 households of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.93.

27.3% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.

The median household income was $41,250 and the median family income was $46,205. Males had a median income of $31,435 versus $23,640 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,117. About 9.5% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.9% of those under age 18 and 17.5% of those age 65 or over.

Climate

Waynesville experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) like much of southern Missouri.

Climate data for Waynesville
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 79
(26)
85
(29)
87
(31)
99
(37)
94
(34)
104
(40)
115
(46)
107
(42)
104
(40)
97
(36)
86
(30)
79
(26)
115
(46)
Average high °F (°C) 42
(6)
48
(9)
59
(15)
68
(20)
75
(24)
83
(28)
88
(31)
87
(31)
79
(26)
71
(22)
57
(14)
46
(8)
67
(19)
Average low °F (°C) 20
(−7)
25
(−4)
34
(1)
43
(6)
53
(12)
62
(17)
67
(19)
65
(18)
57
(14)
45
(7)
34
(1)
25
(−4)
44
(7)
Record low °F (°C) −23
(−31)
−23
(−31)
−14
(−26)
13
(−11)
24
(−4)
35
(2)
42
(6)
36
(2)
24
(−4)
11
(−12)
−3
(−19)
−25
(−32)
−25
(−32)
Precipitation inches (mm) 2.26
(57.4)
2.40
(61)
3.98
(101.1)
4.09
(103.9)
4.71
(119.6)
4.19
(106.4)
3.74
(95)
3.54
(89.9)
4.06
(103.1)
3.88
(98.6)
4.36
(110.7)
3.33
(84.6)
44.54
(1,131.3)
Source: [5]

Registered historic places

Transportation

Waynesville Regional Airport at Forney Field serves the community with air service. Even though it is on Fort Leonard Wood, it is jointly run by the cities of Waynesville and St. Robert and is available for civilian use by private pilots and scheduled commercial passenger service.

The major east-west route is Interstate 44; before that, the main highway was U.S. Route 66, which still exists as a scenic route through the area and passes through Devil's Elbow, St. Robert, Waynesville, Buckhorn, and Hazelgreen. Names for U.S. Route 66 vary - at different places, it's called Teardrop Road, Highway Z, Old Route 66, Historic Route 66, and Highway 17. State-posted signs mark most of the alignment of the road.

The major north-south routes near Waynesville are:

Major attractions along U.S. Route 66 include the Old Stagecoach Stop in downtown Waynesville, which is now a museum but began as a tavern and boarding house and is the oldest standing structure in the county. It was used as a Civil War hospital for Union troops who were garrisoned above the city in Fort Wayne, which was demolished after the war. The Old Courthouse Museum in downtown Waynesville is near the Old Stagecoach Stop.

Media

Pulaski County has one daily and three weekly print newspapers, as well as an online Internet daily newspaper. The county also has two Internet discussion sites, the Pulaski County Web and Pulaski County Insider.

KFBD-FM and its AM sister station, KJPW, are the dominant news radio providers in the Pulaski County area, which includes Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville and St. Robert. These stations compete with the only other station broadcasting from Pulaski County, KFLW Radio, owned by the Lebanon Daily Record [1] and working locally from the St. Robert offices of the Pulaski County Mirror [2] weekly newspaper.

The Daily Guide [3], commonly known as the Waynesville Daily Guide (and formerly called the Gateway Daily Guide), is based in St. Robert and serves the entire county. It is owned by Gatehouse Media [4] and is the central printing plant for three other Gatehouse newspapers in nearby counties, the daily Camden Lake Sun Leader [5] and Rolla Daily News [6] as well as the weekly St. James Leader-Journal.[7]

The content of the weekly Fort Leonard Wood Guidon [8] is produced under the auspices of Army Public Affairs at Fort Leonard Wood but printed under contract by the Springfield News-Leader,[9] a Gannett-owned [10] newspaper which produces and sells advertisements in the Fort Leonard Wood Guidon. The military contract to produce the Guidon was held by the Lebanon Daily Record until the end of 2002, and previously by the Waynesville Daily Guide for many years.

The weekly Pulaski County Mirror [11] is owned by the Lebanon Daily Record,[12] a family-owned newspaper in an adjoining county. The paper is a merger of the Richland Mirror and Pulaski County Democrat in St. Robert, which were separate weekly papers owned by the Lebanon Daily Record until their owner merged them in 2009.

The Pulaski County Daily News [13] Internet newspaper is privately owned by a Waynesville resident.

The Pulaski County Insider [14] is run and maintained by a businessman from St. Robert and hosted by a Potosi resident.

The county's other weekly paper, the Dixon Pilot, does not routinely cover Waynesville.

School districts

Fort Leonard Wood is in Pulaski County and a high percentage of military personnel live off-post in surrounding communities, especially St. Robert and Waynesville but also the farther-out cities of Richland, Crocker and Dixon, and the unincorporated communities of Laquey, Swedeborg and Devil's Elbow, all of which have a lower housing cost than closer housing in St. Robert and Waynesville. Military personnel assigned to training areas on the south end of the post sometimes choose to live in the unincorporated areas of Big Piney and Palace in Pulaski County, or the northern Texas County communities of Plato and Roby.

Seven main school districts are fully or partly within the borders of Pulaski County, not counting two small districts which are mostly within other counties and only have only a few dozen residents within Pulaski County. All seven school districts have a high percentage of Fort Leonard Wood military dependents, and over two-thirds of Waynesville students fall into that category.

The cities of Waynesville and St. Robert and the Fort Leonard Wood army installation, along with their surrounding rural areas running east to Devil's Elbow, are served by the Waynesville R-VI School District[15] which is by far the largest in the county.

Other districts serving Pulaski County include the Laquey R-V School District, Richland R-IV School District, Swedeborg R-III School District, Crocker R-II School District, and Dixon R-I School District. The Plato R-V School District is in Texas County but serves the southern portion of Pulaski County.

References

  1. ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
  4. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
  5. ^ "Average Weather for Waynesville, Missouri (66583) - Temperature and Precipitation". Weather.com. http://www.weather.com/weather/climatology/monthly/66583?x=0&y=0. Retrieved December 19, 2008.