Washington County
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Washington County is in the east central part of the State of Missouri. It is bounded on the north by Franklin and Jefferson Counties; east by St. Francois and Jefferson Counties; south by Iron County; and west by Crawford County. There are numerous caves throughout the county. It has a land area of 488,000 acres.
For information on Washington County's demographics, agriculture, business and economics, education, health, historical census data and map, click here
Washington County's History
French explorers on the Mississippi River as early as 1700 learned from the Indians of
mineral wealth in the area of what is now Washington County. In 1719, French
entrepreneur Phillippe Francois Renault arrived in the Mississippi Valley with a mining
party under a grant from the Royal Company of the Indies. By 1723 they had begun
smelting lead on the Fourche Au Renault river and at the present site of Old
Mines. Mining continued and the smelted lead was transported to Ste.
Genevieve, a loading dock established on the Mississippi River.
The early French were later joined by French settlers from Canada and from east of the Mississippi, and after 1763, by other French and American settlers under Spanish Land Grants. Mine Au Breton, a French mining camp founded in 1763, later grew into the present county seat of Potosi. Moses Austin, a Connecticut miner who arrived in 1798 helped build the mines and smelters into Missouri's first major industry. Austin's son, Stephen F. Austin, later the Father of Texas, grew up here and represented Washington County in the Territorial legislature. Other prominent early Missourians at Potosi included John Rice Jones, an author of Missouri's first Constitution; Col. William H. Ashley and Andrew Henry, whose fur-trading company opened the Rocky Mountains; and Daniel Dunklin, fifth Governor of Missouri.
Organization of Washington County
Washington County was organized from the Ste. Genevieve district on August 21,
1913, as the first Missouri county formed from the original five Spanish Districts of
Missouri Territory. The county's original boundaries ranged westward from Ste.
Genevieve County to the present Kansas border. The county limits were gradually
reduced as new counties were formed. The present boundaries of Washington County
were fixed in 1968.
Source: Missouri Department of Agriculture; Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri
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University of Missouri Extension Washington County WashingtonCo@missouri.edu Site maintained by: Maudie Kelly, KellyME@missouri.edu Last revised: 08/25/09 |
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