Lafayette County, Missouri

Lafayette County, Missouri
Lafayette Courthouse in Lexington
Location in the state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	November 16, 1820
Named for	Marquis de La Fayette, French aristocrat and military officer
Seat	Lexington
Largest city	Odessa
Area
• Total	638.86 sq mi (1,655 km2)
• Land	629.31 sq mi (1,630 km2)
• Water	9.55 sq mi (25 km2), 1.49%
Population
• (2010)	33,381
• Density	52/sq mi (20/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.lafayettecountymo.com

Lafayette County is a county located in west central Missouri in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 33,381.^[1] Its county seat is Lexington^[2]. The county was organized November 16, 1820 from Cooper County and originally named Lillard County for James Lillard of Tennessee, who served in the first state constitutional convention and first state legislature. It was renamed Lafayette County on February 16, 1825, in honor of Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de La Fayette, who was then visiting the United States. Lafayette County is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area.

History

Lafayette County was settled primarily from migrants from the Upper Southern states of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. They brought slaves and slaveholding traditions and started cultivating crops similar to those in Middle Tennessee and Kentucky: hemp and tobacco. As a result, this part of Missouri, and neighboring counties, became known as Little Dixie. In 1860 slaves made up 25 percent or more of the county's population, and the county was strongly pro-Confederate during the American Civil War.^[3]

Newcomers from Germany as well as German Americans from St. Louis began arriving shortly before the war, with many more to come afterwards. They eventually made up a large part of the populations of Concordia, Emma, Wellington, Napoleon, Higginsville, Mayview, and Lexington. The German immigrants generally supported the Union during the war.

Peter Youree, who commissioned the first skyscraper in Shreveport, Louisiana, a 10-storey headquarters building for the Commercial National Bank, of which he was president, was born in Lafayette County in 1843 and grew up there. He settled in Shreveport after the Civil War and became a successful businessman and banker.

In November 2013, Leland Ray Kolkmeyer plead guilty, in federal court, of a fraud scheme in which he embezzled more than $1.5 million from Wellington-Napolean Fire Protection District and Special Road District while being their former treasurer.^[4][5][6]

Geography

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the county has a total area of 638.86 square miles (1,654.6 km²), of which 629.31 square miles (1,629.9 km²) (or 98.51%) is land and 9.55 square miles (24.7 km²) (or 1.49%) is water.^[7]

Adjacent counties

• Ray County (northwest)
• Carroll County (northeast)
• Saline County (east)
• Johnson County (south)
• Jackson County (west)
• Pettis County (southeast)

Major highways

• Interstate 70
• U.S. Route 24
• U.S. Route 40
• Route 13
• Route 23
• Route 131
• Route 224

National protected area

• Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 32,960 people, 12,569 households, and 9,099 families residing in the county. The population density was 52 people per square mile (20/km²). There were 13,707 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile (8/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.52% White, 2.27% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 1.12% from two or more races. Approximately 1.17% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 37.3% were of German, 17.5% American, 9.9% English and 9.7% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 12,569 households out of which 33.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.30% were married couples living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.20% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 15.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,235, and the median income for a family was $45,717. Males had a median income of $31,972 versus $22,684 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,493. About 6.90% of families and 8.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.90% of those under age 18 and 9.10% of those ages 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Education

Public Schools

• Concordia R-II School District – Concordia
  • Concordia Elementary School (PK-06)
  • Concordia High School (07-12)
• Lafayette County C-1 School District – Higginsville
  • Grandview Elementary School (PK-05)
  • Lafayette County Middle School (06-08)
  • Lafayette County High School (09-12)
• Lexington R-V School District – Lexington
  • Leslie Bell Elementary School (PK-04)
  • Lexington Middle School (05-08)
  • Lexington High School (09-12)
• Odessa R-VII School District – Odessa
  • McQuerry Elementary School (K-02)
  • Odessa Upper Elementary School (03-05)
  • Odessa Middle School (06-08)
  • Odessa High School (09-12)
• Santa Fe R-X School District – Alma
  • Santa Fe Elementary School (K-06)
  • Santa Fe High School (07-12)
• Wellington-Napoleon R-IX School District – Wellington
  • Wellington-Napoleon Elementary School (PK-06)
  • Wellington-Napoleon High School (07-12)

Private Schools

• Sionita School – Bates City (PK-08) – Mormon

• Trinity Lutheran School – Alma (K-09) – Lutheran
• Holy Cross Lutheran School – Emma (PK-08) – Lutheran
• Immanuel Lutheran School – Higginsville (K-09) – Lutheran
• Victory Christian Fellowship School – Waverly (K-12) – Nondenominational Christian
• Wentworth Military Academy – Lexington (08-12) – Military
• St. Paul Lutheran Schools – Concordia (K-12) – Lutheran
  • St. Paul Lutheran Elementary School (K-08)
  • St. Paul Lutheran High School (09-12)

Politics

Local

The Republican Party mostly controls politics at the local level in Lafayette County. Republicans hold a little more than half of the elected positions in the county.

State

Lafayette County is divided into four legislative districts in the Missouri House of Representatives, three of which are held by Republicans and one by a Democrat.

• District 26 – Joe Aull (D-Marshal). Consists of the communities of Alma, Concordia, Corder, Dover, Lexington, Waverly, and Wellington.

• District 55 – Sheila Solon (R-Blue Springs). Consists of a tiny sliver of the western part of the county.

• District 118 – Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia). Consists of the community of Emma.

• District 122 – Mike McGhee (R-Odessa). Consists of the communities of Aullville, Bates City, Higginsville, Lake Lafayete, Napoleon, and Odessa.

All of Lafayette County is a part of Missouri’s 21st District in the Missouri Senate and is currently represented by Bob Stouffer (R-Napton).

Federal

All of Lafayette County is included in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District and is currently represented by Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Political culture

Missouri Presidential Preference Primary (2008)

• Former U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York) received more votes, a total of 2,464, than any candidate from either party in Lafayette County during the 2008 presidential primary.

See also

• List of counties in Missouri
• Missouri census statistical areas
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lafayette County, Missouri

References

External links

• Lafayette County Website
• Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Lafayette County from University of Missouri Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books

	Ray County		Carroll County
	Jackson County		Saline County
	Lafayette County, Missouri
		Johnson County	Pettis County

v t e Kansas City metropolitan area's cities and counties Central city Kansas City, Missouri Largest cities (over 100,000 in 2000) Independence Kansas City, Kansas Olathe Overland Park Medium-sized cities (10,000 to 100,000 in 2000) Blue Springs Belton Excelsior Springs Gladstone Grandview Lansing Leawood Leavenworth Lee's Summit Lenexa Liberty Merriam Ottawa Prairie Village Raymore Raytown Shawnee Smaller Cities (between 5,000 and 9,900 in 2010) De Soto Bonner Springs Basehor Edgerton Counties Jackson Clay Cass Platte Lafayette Ray Clinton Bates Caldwell Johnson Wyandotte Leavenworth Miami Franklin Linn

v t e Municipalities and communities of Lafayette County, Missouri, United States County seat: Lexington Cities Alma Bates City Blackburn‡ Concordia Corder Emma‡ Higginsville Lake Lafayette Lexington Mayview Napoleon Oak Grove‡ Odessa Waverly Wellington Villages Aullville Dover Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

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Coordinates: 39°04′N 93°47′W / 39.06°N 93.78°W / 39.06; -93.78