Ripley County, Missouri

Ripley County is a county in the southeastern part of the state of Missouri. It had a population of 14,100 at the 2010 census.

The county was organized on January 5, 1833, and named after Brigadier General Eleazar Wheelock Ripley, a hero of the War of 1812. Doniphan is the county seat as well as the largest city.

History

At the time of European settlement, the future area of Ripley County, like most of southern Missouri, was under the sway of the powerful Osage tribe, though it was primarily a hunting ground rather than a permanent population center. The Natchitoches Trail, a prominent Indian trail leading to Texas and the modern Southwest that was later used by many American pioneers, passed through the region.

The first settlement in the area was made by Lemuel Kittrell about 1819 on the Current River. At this time, it was part of Wayne County, which had been created the previous year. Though the population remained low for some years to come, the construction of a road from Potosi in Washington County to Little Rock, Arkansas aided in movement, with particularly heavy construction near the future town of Doniphan. In 1833, the Missouri legislature organized a new county, which was named for General Eleazar W. Ripley, an American officer who had distinguished himself at the siege of Fort Erie in the War of 1812. Upon its creation, the county included modern Carter, Howell, Oregon, and Shannon Counties, with its new county seat the seat of today's Carter County, Van Buren. Despite this large size, the county had a population of only 2,856 at the 1840 census.

In the following years, the county's size was reduced, with Shannon being detached in 1841 and Oregon (then including Howell) in 1845. The separation of Carter County in 1859 brought Ripley near to its current dimensions, and required the selection of a new county seat; Doniphan, conveniently located on the Current River and near the county's geographic center, was chosen, with a courthouse built shortly afterward.

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.

Geography

Ripley County lies in southeastern Missouri, mostly in the transition zone between the Ozarks and the so-called "Bootheel" farther east. Its borders (last changed in 1872) give it a generally rectangular shape, except for some irregularities on its eastern boundary. It is bordered on the east by Butler County, on the south by the state of Arkansas, on the west by Oregon County, and on the north by Carter County.

The county has a total area of 631.64 square miles, including 629.54 of land and 2.10 of water. 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.

The main river in the county is the Current, which generally flows north to south through the center of the county before joining the Black in Arkansas. Other smaller streams are mostly also tributaries of the Black, chiefly the Little Black in the southeast. Most of the western part of the county is part of the Mark Twain National Forest, a federally protected area.

The most important highway in Ripley County is U.S. Route 160, which runs from west to east through its southern half. Other significant roads are Missouri State Highway 21, which enters from Carter County to the north and ends at the Arkansas line, and State Highway 142, which also runs from west to east and passes through Naylor. All three routes meet at Doniphan.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Ripley County had a population of 14,100.