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Washington County, Missouri (view source)
Revision as of 15:38, October 6, 2020
, 15:38, October 6, 2020no edit summary
'''Washington County''' is a county located in the [[Lead Belt]] region of southeast [[Missouri]]. It had a population of 25,195 at the 2010 census. [[Potosi, Missouri|Potosi]] is the county seat and largest city. One of the oldest counties in the state, it was officially organized in 1813 and named after [[George Washington]], the first [[President of the United States]].
'''Washington County''' is a county located in the [[Lead Belt]] region of southeast [[Missouri]]. It had a population of 25,195 at the 2010 census. [[Potosi, Missouri|Potosi]] is the county seat and largest city. One of the oldest counties in the state, it was officially organized in 1813 and named after [[George Washington]], the first [[President of the United States]].
==History==
Although it is not home to the oldest permanent settlement in the state, the area of present-day Washington County did see the first semi-permanent European presence in Missouri, as it was the first place where significant deposits of [[lead]] were discovered. As early as 1700, a French missionary, Father James Gravier, visited the region and noted amounts of lead ore on the surface in the Meramec river valley, suggesting the potential for mining operations. A major expedition was launched in 1721 under Phillipe Francois Renault, who undertook a more thorough exploration of the area and opened up several small mines north of what is now Potosi. These were run partly through the use of slave labor, but after the establishment of [[Ste. Genevieve, Missouri|Ste. Genevieve]] and other settlements to the east in the mid-18th century, they were increasingly worked by French colonists, producing some 1,500 pounds of lead per day.<ref>https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5140/pdf/Chapter1.pdf</ref>
The mining activity soon spurred the development of permanent communities in the immediate vicinity. The first such was laid down in 1763 by a French entrepreneur, Francois Azor dit Breton (so called because he hailed from the French province of [[Brittany]]), who discovered another deposit of lead while hunting and dug a shaft to exploit it. The village that grew up around it was named Mine a Breton in his honor.<ref>https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C2366/washington-county</ref>
==Geography==
==Geography==