Cooper

Formed December 17, 1818 (8^th county)

Cooper County (17,108), Boonville (8,038)                

The masonry Classical Revival courthouse was built in 1913 and sits at Main Street between High and Court streets.  United States Highway 40 is Main Street in the town.  R. G. Kirsch is the designer.  A miniature Statue of Liberty sits outside the building.  Veteran honor rolls adorn the corridors inside.  There were 1823 and 1840 courthouses earlier all in Boonville, the only county seat.  Cooper County was organized on December 17, 1818 from Howard County as the 8^th county.  It is named for settler Sarshall Cooper.  The county seat is named for Nathan and Daniel Boone, grandsons of Daniel Boone.  Cooper County was the birthplace for 1 Missouri Governor, Lawrence V. Stephens. 

Cooper County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a collector, a coroner, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  One Circuit Court Judge serves Cooper and Pettis counties and One County Court Judge and a court clerk serve Cooper County (judicial.) The county is in central Missouri.  Kansas City, Missouri is west and Saint Louis, Missouri is east of the county. 

The area of the county is 565 square miles.  It is 63 out of 115 in the state.  It ranks 62 out of 115 in population in the state.  It has a density of 30.3 persons per square mile making it 60 out of 115 in the state.  Cooper County has 60.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 70 goes east to west in the county from Boone County to Saline County.  United States Highway 40 enters from the north, Howard County, and joins Interstate Highway 70 into Saline County.  The county looks like a bowl of ice cream with a scoop missing.  Boonville is on the northern Missouri River border.  Boonville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 47.0% of the county population.  The county center is 11 miles Southwest of Boonville nearer Pilot Grove.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Howard, Boone, Moniteau, Morgan, Pettis, and Saline counties.