Formed October 19, 1857 (109th county)
Howell County (39,748), West Plains (12,170)
A masonry Art Deco structure was constructed in 1935. It sits in a square where Main and Washington streets meet. United States Highway 63 Business is four blocks to the north of the courthouse. Earl Hawkins provided the courthouse designs. Three previous courthouses in 1859, 1869, and 1884 all were located in West Plains, the only county seat. A County Office Building supports the courthouse. Howell County was founded on October 19, 1857 from Oregon County as the 109th county. The county is named for settler James Howell. The county seat name is a geographical term for the town location from the nearest settlement.
Howell 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 Howell, Carter, Oregon, and Shannon counties and Two County Court Judges and a court clerk serve Howell County (judicial.) The county is on the southern border with Arkansas. Springfield, Missouri is northwest and Saint Louis, Missouri is northeast of the county. The county center is 11.8 miles North-Northwest of West Plains nearer Pomona. The county is surrounded clockwise by Texas, Shannon, and Oregon counties and Arkansas and Ozark and Douglas counties.
The area of the county is 928 square miles. It is 3 out of 115 in the state. It ranks 28 out of 115 in population in the state. It has a density of 42.8 persons per square mile making it 43 out of 115 in the state. Howell County has 42.8% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 60 crosses the county northwest to east from Texas County to Shannon County. United States Highway 63 enters joined with United States Highway 60 from Texas County, splits and exits southeast into Oregon County. United States Highway 160 travels east to west from Oregon County to Ozark County. The county is a tall rectangle. West Plains is in the southern third of the county. West Plains is the county seat and the largest city. It is 30.6% of the county population. This county is in the West Plains Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Brandsville
Mountain View
West Plains
Willow Springs
