Daviess

Formed December 13, 1836 (54^th county)

Daviess County (8,426), Gallatin (1,823)

The masonry and concrete Beaux Arts courthouse is located on a square surrounded by Main, Grand, Market, and Jackson streets.  Main Street is Missouri State Highway 13 in the town.  The building was built in 1906.  The courthouse and its grounds feature a dome with a working clock and a cannon.  Patrick Henry Weathers provided the designs.  The county was created on December 13, 1836 from Native American Territory as the 54^th county with Gallatin as the only county seat.  It is named for Battle of Tippecanoe hero Colonel Joseph Hamilton Daviess.  The county seat is named for United States Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.  Daviess County was the birthplace for 1 Missouri Governor, Alexander M. Dockery. 

Daviess 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 Daviess, Caldwell, Clinton, DeKalb, and Livingston counties and One County Court Judge and a court clerk serve Daviess County (judicial.) The county is in the northwest part of the state.  Kansas City, Missouri is southwest and Saint Louis, Missouri is east of the county.  The county center is 9.1 miles North-Northwest of Gallatin nearer Jameson.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Harrison, Grundy, Livingston, Caldwell, De Kalb, and Gentry counties. 

The area of the county is 567 square miles.  It is 62 out of 115 in the state.  It ranks 96 out of 115 in population in the state.  It has a density of 14.9 persons per square mile making it 90 out of 115 in the state.  Daviess County has 40.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 crosses the county north to southwest from Harrison County to De Kalb County.  United States Highway 69 parallels Interstate Highway 35 from Harrison to De Kalb counties.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Gallatin is in the southern third of the county.  Gallatin is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 21.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced DAE-VIS.