Jasper County, Missouri

Jasper County, Missouri
Jasper County Courthouse in Carthage, Missouri (August 2008). This Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse, designed by architect Max A. Orlopp Jr., was erected in 1894–95 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed with local marble and has medieval castle features that include turrets, towers, and arches. Museum and guided tours are open to the public.
Flag
Location in the state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	January 2, 1841
Named for	William Jasper
Seat	Carthage
Largest city	Joplin
Area
• Total	641.32 sq mi (1,661 km2)
• Land	639.73 sq mi (1,657 km2)
• Water	1.59 sq mi (4 km2), 0.25%
Population (Est.)
• (2012)	115,258
• Density	183/sq mi (70.81/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.jaspercounty.org

Coordinates: 37°12′N 94°20′W / 37.20°N 94.34°W / 37.20; -94.34

Jasper County is a county located in Southwest Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 117,404.^[1] Its county seat is Carthage,^[2] making it one of the few counties whose largest city, Joplin, is not the county seat. The county was organized in 1841 and named for William Jasper, a hero of the American Revolutionary War.

Jasper County is the central hub of the Joplin Metropolitan Area.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 641.32 square miles (1,661.0 km²), of which 639.73 square miles (1,656.9 km²) (or 99.75%) is land and 1.59 square miles (4.1 km²) (or 0.25%) is water.^[3]

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 117,404 people, 45,639 households, and 30,202 families residing in the county. The population density was 164 people per square mile (63/km²). There were 50,668 housing units at an average density of 71 per square mile (28/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 88.24% White, 1.93% Black or African American, 1.51% Native American, 0.99% Asian, 0.25% Pacific Islander, 3.89% from other races, and 3.18% from two or more races. Approximately 6.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 45,639 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 24.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.05

In the county the population was spread out with 27.17% under the age of 19, 7.4% from 20 to 24, 25.11% from 25 to 44, 22.24% from 45 to 64, and 12.14% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.1 years. For every 100 females there were 94.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,323, and the median income for a family was $37,611. Males had a median income of $28,573 versus $20,386 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,227. About 10.40% of families and 14.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.20% of those under age 18 and 10.30% of those age 65 or over.

History

Portrait of an Osage warrior, painted by George Catlin in 1834.

Osage Nation

Before European contact, the area that today makes up Jasper County was the domain of the Osage Native Americans who called themselves the Children of the Middle Waters (Ni-U-Kon-Ska).^[5] This was probably^{[citation needed]} because their dominion encompassed the land between the Missouri and Osage rivers to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, and the Arkansas River to the south. To the west were the Great Plains where they hunted buffalo. By the late 17th century, the Osage were calling themselves Wah-Zha-Zhe.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest record of European-Osage contact is a 1673 map by French Jesuit priest and explorer Jacques Marquette. He noted the people he encountered as the Ouchage, his way of expressing the sound of the name with French spelling.^[6] A few years after the Marquette expedition, French explorers discovered a Little Osage village and called it Ouazhigi.^[7] French transliterations of the tribe's name settled on a spelling of Osage, which was also used by European Americans.^[8]

In 1682 Robert de La Salle canoed down the length of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, naming the entire Mississippi basin “La Louisiane” in honor of King Louis XIV. In 1699 Louisiana was named an administrative district of New France therefore, as far as the Europeans (France, England and Spain) were concerned, the area of Jasper County was French territory. The French further divided the Louisiana district into an upper and lower parts with the Arkansas River being the dividing line.

With France and Spain’s defeat in the Seven Years War in 1763, France ceded Louisiana to Spain and most of the rest of New France to the British who also received Florida from Spain. The Spanish District of New Madrid, containing present day Jasper County, was the southernmost of the five Spanish districts comprising Upper Louisiana. France regained control of Louisiana through the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800 but Napoleon Bonaparte I decided to sell the territory to the United States in 1803.

The Osage began treaty-making with the United States in 1808 with the first cession of lands in Missouri in the (Osage Treaty). The Osage moved from their homelands on the Osage River in 1808 to the Jasper County area of Southwest Missouri. In 1825, the Osages ceded their traditional lands across Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. They were first moved onto a southeastern Kansas reservation in the Cherokee Strip, on which the city of Independence, Kansas now sits and finally to Indian Territory in 1872.

Missouri Territory

Map defining borders of Missouri Territory, 1812.

The Upper Louisiana Territory, including the Jasper County area, was renamed the Missouri Territory on June 4, 1812 to avoid confusion with the state of Louisiana which joined the Union in 1812, and the New Madrid District became New Madrid County. Old Lawrence County was established in 1815 from New Madrid County west of the St. Francis River and north of Arkansas County and consisted of all of present-day southwestern Missouri and part of northwestern Arkansas.

Lawrence County was short-lived, however, as three years later (1818) it was combined with part of Cape Girardeau County and renamed Wayne County. By 1819, Arkansas Territory had been created, and Wayne County lost some of its area but still consisted of most of southern Missouri from present-day Wayne County west to the Kansas State Line and south along the Arkansas State Line.

In 1820, all of Missouri Territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Missouri and in 1831 Crawford County was carved out of the original Wayne. This new division covered all of the southern part of Missouri and included Jasper County in its boundaries. This alignment was also short-lived as in 1833 Greene County was split from Crawford County from the Niangua River west to the Kansas State Line.

On January 5, 1835, a big piece was cut out of Greene County and organized as Barry County. In 1838 Barry County was divided into four parts called Barry, Dade, Newton and Jasper counties. At this time Jasper was not a full fledged county but was attached to Newton County and it would not be until 1841.

Log home of George Hornback, used as the initial Jasper County Courthouse in 1841. It has been preserved and can be viewed on the grounds of the Old Cabin Shop at 155 North Black Powder Lane, off of West Mound Street in Carthage.

County Organization

On January 29, 1841 the Missouri Legislature enacted a bill authorizing the organization of Jasper County and was named in honor of Sergeant William Jasper, a hero in the American Revolutionary War. The Jasper County Court first divided the area into three townships: North Fork, Center Creek and Marion, but later it was divided into 15 townships which remain in an unincorporated status to the present time.

A temporary seat of justice was established, Thursday, February 25, 1841 in the home of George Hornback. It was a 12×16 foot log cabin, one and a half miles northwest of Carthage on Spring River. Samuel M. Coolley, Jeremiah Cravens and Samuel B. Bright were the first justices of the Jasper County Court. John P. Osborn, the first sheriff, was ordered to give public notice that the county court of Jasper County would meet in the home of George Hornback until the permanent seat of justice was established.

A permanent county seat was chosen in March 1842 and designated by the name of Carthage. A one story single-room wooden structure with a large door in the south, was completed on June 29, 1842, and was located on the north side of the present public square in Carthage. This courthouse was later replaced by a larger two story brick & stone structure that was completed in 1854, which also functioned as the county jail.

By the start of the American Civil War in 1861 there were several small river mill settlements, some mining camps and about nine or ten towns (seven platted) in Jasper County, Missouri. The county seat of Carthage, Missouri had an estimated population between four and five hundred at that time. The newer brick courthouse was used as a hospital during the American Civil War and was destroyed by fire during fighting in October 1863. By the end of the Civil War, Carthage had been evacuated and completely destroyed, and much of Jasper County laid in ruins. By order of the Governor, the courthouse was relocated to the schoolhouse at Cave Springs (near present day La Russell, Missouri) in 1865. Other temporary locations within the county were later used over the next three decades until the current Jasper County Courthouse was constructed on the Carthage square in the mid-1890s.^[9]

The county adopted an official flag in 2001, which was unveiled during the county's 160th birthday celebration. The flag depicts the county courthouse surrounded by 15 stars representing Jasper County’s 15 townships. The center blue and red stars memorialize the struggle in Jasper County during the Civil War years, including the Battle of Carthage in 1861 and second battle in 1863.

President Barack Obama greets a tornado survivor on May 29, 2011 in Joplin, Jasper County Missouri.

On Sunday, May 22, 2011 Jasper County was struck in Joplin with a catastrophic EF5 multiple-vortex tornado. The 2011 Joplin tornado ranked as the seventh deadliest in America's history.

Towns established prior to the Civil War

^[10]

Official flag of Jasper County.

Cities and towns

¹defunct

Townships

Adjacent Counties

	Crawford County, Kansas	Barton County	Dade County
	Cherokee County, Kansas		Lawrence County
	Jasper County, Missouri
		Newton County

• Barton County (north)
• Dade County (northeast)
• Lawrence County (east)
• Newton County (south)
• Cherokee County, Kansas (west)
• Crawford County, Kansas (northwest)

Major Highways

• Interstate 44
• Interstate 49
• U.S. Route 66 (1926–1985)
• U.S. Route 71
• Route 37
• Route 43
• Route 66
• Route 96
• Route 171

Cemeteries

• Alexander Cemetery^[11] – Latitude 37.1372 and Longitude −94.3875
• Carterville Cemetery – Latitude 37.1678359 and Longitude −94.4393924
• Fidelity Cemetery – Latitude 37.2894989 and Longitude −94.4621731
• Peace Church Cemetery – Latitude 37.1231152 and Longitude −94.5474492
• Pine Cemetery – Latitude 37.2894989 and Longitude −94.4621731
• Stone Cemetery – Latitude 37.0578392 and Longitude −94.3549436

Education

Public Schools

• Avilla R-XIII School District – Avilla
  • Avilla Elementary/Middle School (K-08)
• Carl Junction R-I School District – Carl Junction
  • Carl Junction Primary School (K-01)
  • Carl Junction Primary School (02-03)
  • Carl Junction Intermediate School (04-06)
  • Carl Junction Junior High School (07-08)
  • Carl Junction High School (09-12)
• Carthage R-IX School District – Carthage
  • Columbian Elementary School (PK-04)
  • Fairview Elementary School (PK-04)
  • Mark Twain Elementary School (PK-04)
  • Pleasant Valley Elementary School (PK-04)
  • Steadley Elementary School (PK-04)
  • Carthage Middle School (05-06)
  • Carthage Junior High School (07-08)
  • Carthage High School (09-12)
• Jasper R-V School District – Jasper
  • Jasper County Elementary School (K-06)
  • Jasper High School (07-12)
• Joplin R-VIII School District – Joplin
  • Washington Education Center (PK)
  • Cecil Floyd Elementary School (K-05)
  • Columbia Elementary School (K-05)
  • Duenweg Elementary School (K-05)
  • Duquesne Elementary School (K-05)
  • Eastmorland Elementary School (PK-05)
  • Emerson Elementary School (K-05)
  • Irving Elementary School (K-05)
  • Jefferson Elementary School (K-05)
  • Kelsey Norman Elementary School (K-05)
  • McKinley Elementary School (K-05)
  • Royal Heights Elementary School (K-05)
  • Stapleton Elementary School (K-05)
  • West Central Elementary School (K-05)
  • East Middle School (06-08)
  • North Middle School (06-08)
  • South Middle School (06-08)
  • Joplin High School (09-12)
• Sarcoxie R-II School District – Sarcoxie
  • Wildwood Elementary School (PK-05)
  • Sarcoxie High School (06-12)
• Webb City R-VII School District – Webb City
  • Franklin Early Childhood Center (PK)
  • Madge T. James Kindergarten Center (K)
  • Bess Truman Primary Center (K-01)
  • Webster Primary Center (01-02)
  • Carterville Elementary School (PK-04)
  • Eugene Field Elementary School (03-04)
  • Harry S. Truman Elementary School (02-04)
  • Mark Twain Elementary School (03-04)
  • Webb City Middle School (05-06)
  • Webb City Junior High School (07-08)
  • Webb City High School (09-12)

Private Schools

• Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School – Joplin (K-12) – Nonsectarian (Special Education)
• Joplin Area Catholic Schools – Joplin (PK-12) – Roman Catholic
  • St. Mary’s Elementary School (PK-05)
  • St. Peter’s Middle School (06-08)
  • McAuley Catholic High School (09-12)
• Martin Luther School – Joplin (PK-08) – Lutheran
• College Heights Christian School – Joplin (PK-12) – Nondenominational Christian
• St. Ann’s Catholic School – Carthage (PK-06) – Roman Catholic

Post Secondary

Missouri Southern State University - Joplin A public, four-year university.

Politics

Local

The Republican Party completely controls politics at the local level in Jasper County. Republicans hold every elected position in the county.

State

Jasper County is divided into four districts in the Missouri House of Representatives, all of which are held by Republicans.

• District 126 – Mike Kelley (R-Lamar) Consists of the communities of Avilla, La Russell, Reeds, and Sarcoxie.

• District 127 – Tom Flanigan (R-Carthage) Consists of the communities of Alba, Asbury, Brooklyn Heights, Carl Junction, Carthage, Carytown, Fidelity, Jasper, Neck City, Oronogo, Purcell, and Waco.

• District 128 – Charlie Davis (R-Webb City) Consists of approximately a quarter of the city of Joplin, as well as all of the communities of Airport Drive, Carterville, Duenweg, Duquesne, and Webb City.

• District 129 – Bill White (R-Joplin) Consists of approximately three-quarters of the city of Joplin.

All of Jasper County is a part of Missouri’s 32nd District in the Missouri Senate and is represented by Ron Richard (R-Joplin).

Federal

All of Jasper County is included in Missouri's 7th Congressional District and is represented by Billy Long (R-Springfield) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Jasper County, Missouri

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 9, 2013. 
2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ↑ "Census 2010 Gazetteer Files". Retrieved July 2, 2013. 
4. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov. Retrieved September 9, 2013. 
5. ↑ "Osage". Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Retrieved March 2, 2009. 
6. ↑ "Today in History: January 29th". Library of Congress. 
7. ↑ "History of the Osage". rootsweb.ancestry.com. 
8. ↑ "Osage Culture". Minnesota State University. 
9. ↑ A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Volume 1 By Joel Thomas Livingston. 
10. ↑ "M.A. Thesis "Place Names In The Southwest Counties Of Missouri" by Robert Lee Meyers, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1930". 
11. ↑ "Alexander Cemetery". 

External links

• Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Jasper County from University of Missouri Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books
• http://2010.census.gov/2010census/popmap/

v t e Municipalities and communities of Jasper County, Missouri, United States County seat: Carthage Cities Alba Asbury Carl Junction Carterville Carthage Duenweg Jasper Joplin‡ La Russell Neck City Oronogo Purcell Reeds Sarcoxie Waco Webb City Villages Airport Drive Avilla Brooklyn Heights Carytown Duquesne Fidelity Unincorporated communities Dudenville‡ Kendricktown Maxville Scotland Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

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