Howell County Digital Magazine

Howell County is located in the southern portion of the U.S. state
of Missouri. The largest city and county seat is West Plains.
History Howell County area before the white settlers, was
inhabited mainly by the Osage. The first recorded white settlement
took place in 1832 by James Howell near present-day West
Plains. The early settler’s enjoyed wild honey, farmed the area
known as Howell Valley, hunted, and traded furs. The future
would see a flour mill, a wool mill, the railroad, and lumber
mills. Howell County was organized on March 2, 1857, from
parts of Oregon and Ozark Counties. Named after the early
settler James Howell, the county seat was named West Plains.
The majority of the people in the new county located on the Arkansas border were pro-Confederacy
when Brigadier General McBride arrived in July 1861. He declared martial law, and demanded Union
supporters to either join the Confederacy or leave. Some fought in the Confederate army promised
the protection of their homes and families. There were no major battles in Howell County, although a
federal fort built in West Plains caused small conflicts. Guerrilla and border warfare was constant.
Historians estimate there were less than three hundred people in the entire county by the end of the
war in May 1865. Most of the settlements, including West Plains and the courthouse, had burned.
Railroad construction begun in 1880, brought about an industrial boom. An ice plant, distillery, brick
yard, cigar factory, and canning factory all became very successful. Lumber mills in the pine forests
that supplied the ties for the railroad now supplied the growing demand for lumber in Springfield.
The first Circuit Court met in a log cabin one mile east of West Plains, according to an 1876 account.
A small, wooden courthouse was built on the square in West Plains in 1859. It was damaged during
the Civil War in 1862. The county was reorganized three years later, but all of the county records were
destroyed in an 1866 fire. A second courthouse was built in West Plains in 1869.
Geography
The estimated 2015 population was 40,117 over a total area of 928 square miles. It is the fourthlargest
county in Missouri.
Demographics
40 people per square mile (16/km²). There were 16,340 housing units at an average density of 18 per
square mile (7/km²).
Religion
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives County Membership Report (2000), Howell
County is a part of the Bible Belt with evangelical Protestantism being the majority religion. The most
predominant denominations among residents in Howell County who adhere to a religion are Southern
Baptists (47.70%), Churches of Christ (8.81%), and Roman Catholics (6.99%).
Politics
The Republican Party predominantly controls politics at the local level in Howell County. Republicans
hold all of the elected positions in the county.