Lawrence

Formed February 25, 1845 (91^st county)

Lawrence County (37,995), Mount Vernon (4,520), Aurora (7,218)                

The magnificent stone Romanesque structure was constructed in 1900.  It is on the square at Main, Center, Market, and Water streets.  Missouri State Highway 39 is four blocks west of the courthouse.  T. A. Miller and George E. McDonald are the building architects.  The building features corner towers.  Carved wood staircases go from the first to second floors inside.  A Justice Center was added in 2008.  There were 1846 and 1855 courthouses previously.  The county was established on February 25, 1845 from parts of Barry, Newton, and Dade counties as the 91^st county with Mount Vernon as the only county seat.  The county is named for War of 1812 hero James Lawrence.  The county seat is named for the estate of President George Washington. 

Lawrence 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 Lawrence, Barry, and Stone counties and Two County Court Judges and a court clerk serve Lawrence County (judicial.)  The county is in southwest Missouri.  Springfield, Missouri is directly to the east of the county.  The county center is 3.5 miles Southeast of Mount Vernon.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Dade, Greene, Christian, Stone, Barry, Newton, and Jasper counties. 

The area of the county is 613 square miles.  It is 52 out of 115 in the state.  It ranks 31 out of 115 in population in the state.  It has a density of 62.0 persons per square mile making it 31 out of 115 in the state.  Lawrence County has 53.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 44 crosses the county east to west from Greene County to Jasper County.  United States Highway 60 cuts the southeast corner from Stone County, east, to Barry County, south.  The county is a square.  Mount Vernon is located near the center of the county.  Aurora is in the southeast quarter of the county near the southern border.  Mount Vernon is the county seat and Aurora is the largest city.  Mount Vernon is 11.9% of the county population while Aurora is 19.0% of the county population.