Changes

Ripley County was strongly pro-Southern in sympathies during the [[Civil War]], with at least four colonels in the [[Confederate]] Army hailing from it. Most of Doniphan, including the first courthouse, was burned by [[Union]] troops in 1864, though the records were saved, and the effects of the war and its chaotic aftermath made recovery slow. A new courthouse was not built until 1871; it in turn was destroyed by fire in 1898 and replaced with a third structure the following year. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the county prospered from logging as the virgin forests were cut, and later from agriculture, especially fruit orchards. Though the latter remains important, light manufacturing and tourism have also become significant in recent decades.

Ripley County was strongly pro-Southern in sympathies during the [[Civil War]], with at least four colonels in the [[Confederate]] Army hailing from it. Most of Doniphan, including the first courthouse, was burned by [[Union]] troops in 1864, though the records were saved, and the effects of the war and its chaotic aftermath made recovery slow. A new courthouse was not built until 1871; it in turn was destroyed by fire in 1898 and replaced with a third structure the following year. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the county prospered from logging as the virgin forests were cut, and later from agriculture, especially fruit orchards. Though the latter remains important, light manufacturing and tourism have also become significant in recent decades.

The Ripley County Courthouse has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and celebrated its 100th anniversary during the 1999 Labor Day Homecoming Festivities.<ref>https://www.ripleycountymissouri.org/history.php</ref>   

The Ripley County Courthouse has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and celebrated its 100th anniversary during the 1999 Labor Day Homecoming Festivities.<ref>https://www.ripleycountymissouri.org/history.php</ref>

 

 

 

The county has a total area of 631.64 square miles, including 629.54 of land and 2.10 of water.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20131021170230/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_29.txt</ref> Most of it lies within the foothills of the Ozark Plateau, with the land becoming more rugged west of the Current River. The highest elevation, 940 feet above sea level, is in the extreme west near the Oregon County line. The southeastern portion of the county (separated from the rest by the Little Black River) is part of the flat and low-lying Mississippi Alluvial Plain, including the city of Naylor. It contains the lowest elevation, about 280 feet, near the Arkansas state line.<ref>https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=22277</ref>   

==References==

==References==