Changes

==Geography==

==Geography==

Perry County is located in the northern part of southeastern Missouri, between the St. Francois Mountains and the Mississippi River. It has a roughly triangular shape, with the apex to the north, the base to the south, and the river forming its northeastern leg. It is bordered to the northeast and east by the state of [[Illinois]], to the southeast by [[Cape Girardeau County, Missouri|Cape Girardeau County]], to the southwest by [[Bollinger County, Missouri|Bollinger]] and [[Madison County, Missouri|Madison]] Counties, and to the northwest by St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties.

Perry County is located in the northern part of southeastern Missouri, between the St. Francois Mountains and the Mississippi River. It has a roughly triangular shape, with the apex to the north, the base to the south, and the river forming its northeastern leg. It is bordered to the northeast and east by the state of [[Illinois]], to the southeast by [[Cape Girardeau County, Missouri|Cape Girardeau County]], to the southwest by [[Bollinger County, Missouri|Bollinger]] and [[Madison County, Missouri|Madison]] Counties, and to the northwest by St. Francois and [[Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri|Ste. Genevieve]] Counties.

The county has a total area of 484.16 square miles, including 474.35 of land and 9.81 of water.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20131021170230/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_29.txt</ref> It has two main topographical divisions; by far the largest are the foothills of the St. Francois Mountains (themselves the eastern edge of the Ozarks), which are gently rolling in the central part of the county around Perryville and more rugged to the west. Its highest point is an unnamed hill in the far west, near the border with Madison County, rising to about 1,080 feet above sea level. The other part of the county is the floodplain in the northeast along the Mississippi River (mostly north of Brazeau Creek), and is several miles wide in some places. These include the Bois Brule and the Brazeau Bottoms, which average about 360 feet in elevation. These lowlands have by far the most fertile soil in the county, and were the area of first settlement in the early 19th century.<ref>https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=6574</ref>

The county has a total area of 484.16 square miles, including 474.35 of land and 9.81 of water.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20131021170230/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_29.txt</ref> It has two main topographical divisions; by far the largest are the foothills of the St. Francois Mountains (themselves the eastern edge of the Ozarks), which are gently rolling in the central part of the county around Perryville and more rugged to the west. Its highest point is an unnamed hill in the far west, near the border with Madison County, rising to about 1,080 feet above sea level. The other part of the county is the floodplain in the northeast along the Mississippi River (mostly north of Brazeau Creek), and is several miles wide in some places. These include the Bois Brule and the Brazeau Bottoms, which average about 360 feet in elevation. These lowlands have by far the most fertile soil in the county, and were the area of first settlement in the early 19th century.<ref>https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=6574</ref>