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'''Licking''' is the largest city of [[Texas County, Missouri|Texas County]], [[Missouri]]. It had a population of 3,124 at the 2010 census.
'''Licking''' is a city in northern [[Texas County, Missouri|Texas County]], [[Missouri]]. It had a population of 3,124 at the 2010 census, making it the largest city in the county.
==History==
Licking takes its name from a nearby "salt lick" that existed just east of the present town center, a spring that dried up part of the year and left behind [[salt]] and other minerals for consumption by local animals, especially the [[bison]] that were once common in this region. Members of the [[Osage]] nation and other Indian tribes used the lick as well, both to gather the minerals and hunt the animals nearby, and at the beginning of the 19th century, a number of American frontiersmen (including [[Daniel Boone]], according to some reports) spent time there as well.
The first permanent settlement in the area occurred around 1826, and became steadily more densely populated over the next several decades, though it was not until the late 1850s that a post office was established and the community became officially known as Licking.<ref>https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C2366/texas-county</ref> It was finally incorporated as a town in 1878, having already undergone a period of rebuilding following the [[Civil War]], and was again disrupted by a destructive tornado in 1880.<ref>http://lickingmo.org/history.html</ref> Licking recovered from this as well, though, and maintained a slow but steady growth through the 20th century.
The most important event in the town's modern history came with the state's construction of the South Central Correctional Center, a 1,600-bed prison that opened in June 2000.<ref>http://correctionalnews.com/2005/12/09/south-central-correctional-center/</ref> This led to a doubling of Licking's population, further increased by the arrival of an [[Amish]] community from [[Indiana]] in 2009, and since then it has been the largest city in Texas County.
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Missouri Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:Missouri Cities and Towns]]