Shannon County, Missouri

Shannon County is a county in the Ozarks of southern Missouri. It had a population of 8,441 at the 2010 census. Officially organized on January 29, 1841, the county was named for George Shannon (1785-1836), a western explorer and Missouri lawyer and politician. Eminence is the county seat, and Winona is the largest city.

History

At the time Missouri gained statehood, the area that became Shannon County was part of Wayne County, later being subdivided into Crawford County. In January 1841, it was detached from Crawford and organized as Shannon County. The Missouri legislature named it in honor of the late George Shannon, a native of Pennsylvania who had gained fame through his involvement in the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-06, in which he had been the youngest member, and then as a lawyer and statesman in northeast Missouri.

Upon its formation, the new county embraced most of south-central Missouri, being reduced over time as all or part of Carter, Reynolds, and Texas Counties were carved from it. The first courthouse was built near Round Spring along the Current River; it was destroyed in the Civil War, after which the new courthouse and the position of county seat were moved a short distance away, to Eminence. However, three successive courthouses in Eminence were likewise lost to fire, in 1871, 1895, and 1938, owing to which most records relating to the county's early history no longer exist. After a bid to move the county seat to Winona failed, the fourth (and current) courthouse in Eminence was constructed and dedicated in 1941.

For many years after its creation, Shannon County was among the most sparsely populated in the state; apart from the mining of a few metals, principally copper, from the 1840s onward, most of the settlers relied on subsistence farming and herding for a living. Beginning around 1880, though, it enjoyed a relative boom, thanks in large part to the arrival of railroads in southern Missouri, which in turn made it profitable to cut the vast Ozark forests for their timber. This economic activity was briefly supplemented during World War II, when Missouri's only manganese mine was opened to provide resources for the nation's wartime industries. After the end of the war, though, with the forests cut and the mines largely exhausted, the local economy collapsed and the population dropped sharply, by some 40% between 1940 and 1960. Since then, it has recovered somewhat, thanks to tourism in the Ozarks and along the Current River, but it remains one of the least-populated and lowest-income counties in Missouri. At the 2000 census, it had the 46th-lowest median household income among counties in the United States.

Geography

Shannon County lies in south-central Missouri, within the Ozark Mountains (alternately known as the Ozark Plateau). It is mostly rectangular in shape, except for an eastward-jutting wedge of significant size to the east of Eminence. It is bordered on the northeast by Reynolds County, on the southeast by Carter County, on the south by Oregon County, on the southwest by Howell County, on the west by Texas County, and on the north by Dent County.

The county has a total area of 1,004.0 square miles, including 1,003.82 of land and 0.18 of water. This makes it the second-largest county in Missouri by land area (after neighboring Texas County). Though rugged, it is not among the more mountainous of the Ozark counties, at least in terms of differences in elevation. The most noticeable peaks occur in the east of the county, part of the outliers of the St. Francois Mountains. Thorny Mountain, the highest point in the county at 1,359 feet, falls into this category, lying a short distance southwest of the Current River. The narrow valley cut by the Current itself is arguably the lowest part of the county, dropping to about 500 feet as it flows southeast into Carter County. The western half of Shannon County, though elevated, tends to be more gently rolling, transitioning into the broader Springfield-Salem Plateau that characterizes the north-central Ozarks.

The chief waterway is the Current River, which drains most of the county (except for the southwestern corner, which falls into the Eleven Point River's watershed). Its main tributary is Jacks Fork, which flows into the Current a few miles east of Eminence; significant portions of both streams are part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. These and other local rivers are fed by numerous large natural springs, including Alley Spring, Powder Mill Spring, and Round Spring, among others.

The most important highway in the county is U.S. Route 60, which runs west to east through its southern portion, passing the cities of Birch Tree and Winona. Other significant roads include Missouri State Highway 19, which runs north to south through Eminence and Winona, where it intersects U.S. 60; State Highway 99, which has its northern terminus at Birch Tree; and State Highway 106, which passes west to east through Eminence and the central part of the county.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Shannon County had a total population of 8,441, with 3,448 households and 2,327 families; this represented a slight increase from its 2000 population of 8,324. The population density was 8.4 per square mile. There were 4,164 housing units, or about 4.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was about 96.00% White, 0.20% African-American, 0.91% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.44% from some other race, and 2.27% from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 1.65% of the population.

The median age in the county was 43.4 years. 23.35% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.96% was between the ages of 18 and 24, 20.65% was between the ages of 25 and 44, 30.72% was between the ages of 45 and 64, and 17.32% was 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 49.8% male, 50.2% female.

As of 2018, the median household income in the county was $32,180, and the median family income was $44,692. Males had a median income of $34,138 versus $24,777 for females. The unemployment rate was 6.3%. The per capita income was $18,066. About 28.5% of the population was below the poverty line, including 40.6% of those under the age of 18 and 18.3% of those 65 years old or older.

Communities

Shannon County is home to five incorporated communities, including four cities and one census-designated place (CDP).

Cities

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

CDP

• Montier