Washington

Formed August 21, 1813 (6^th county)

Washington County (23,514), Potosi (2,544)                

The 1907 dark red brick Italianate courthouse is situated at Missouri Street at High Street.  High Street is Missouri State Highway 8 in the town.  Henry H. Hohenschild is the building architect.  There was an 1849 courthouse earlier in Potosi, the only county seat.  Washington County was organized on August 21, 1813 from parts of Sainte Genevieve and Saint Louis counties as the 6^th county.  It is named for United States President George Washington.  The county seat is named for Potosi, Bolivia, a mining city. 

Washington County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Two Circuit Court Judges serve Washington, Madison, St. Francois, and Ste. Genevieve counties and One County Court Judge serves Washington County.  The county is in eastern Missouri.  Saint Louis, Missouri is northeast and Springfield, Missouri is southwest of the county.  The county center is 3.1 miles Northwest of Potosi.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Jefferson, Saint Francois, Iron, Crawford, and Franklin counties. 

The area of the county is 760 square miles.  It is 19 out of 115 in the state.  It ranks 46 out of 115 in population in the state.  It has a density of 30.9 persons per square mile making it 57 out of 115 in the state.  Washington County has 13.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is a rectangle with the northeast corner cut away.  Potosi is in the eastern quarter of the county.  Potosi is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 10.8% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced PO-TOO-SEE.  This county is in the Saint Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Potosi