Webster County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,085. Its county seat is Marshfield. The county was organized in 1855 and named for U.S. Senator and U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster.
Webster County is part of the Springfield, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Webster County was organized on March 3, 1855, and encompasses some of the highest extensive upland area of Missouri's Ozarks. The judicial seat is Marshfield, which lies 1,490 feet above sea level. Webster County is the highest county seat in the state of Missouri. Pioneer Legislator John F. McMahan named the county and county seat for Daniel Webster, and his Marshfield, Massachusetts home.
Marshfield was laid out in 1856 by R.H. Pitts, on land that was given by C.F. Dryden and W.T. and B.F.T. Burford. Until a courthouse was built, the county business was conducted at Hazelwood where Joseph W. McClurg, later Governor of Missouri, operated a general store. Today's Carthage Marble courthouse was built in 1939-1941 and is the county's third.
During the U.S. Civil War, a small force of pro-Southern troops was driven out of Marshfield in February 1862, and ten months later a body of Confederates was routed east of town. On January 9, 1863, General Joseph O. Shelby’s troops burned the stoutly built Union fortification at Marshfield and at Sand Springs, evacuated earlier. During Marmaduke's First Raid, on January 9, 1863, Confederate Troops under the command of Col. Joseph C. Porter, led by Lt. Colonel John M. Wimer, burned the Fort at Hazelwood. By 1862, the telegraph line passed near Marshfield on a route later called the "Old Wire Road".
A part of the 1808 Osage Native American land cession, the county was settled in the early 1830s by pioneers from Kentucky and Tennessee. A Native American trail crossed southern Webster County and many prehistoric mounds are in the area.
The railroad-building boom of the post Civil War period stimulated the county's growth as a dairy, poultry, and livestock producer. The Atlantic & Pacific (Frisco) Railroad was built through Marshfield in 1872, and by 1883 the Kansas City, Springfield, and Memphis (Frisco) crossed the county. Seymour, Rogersville, Fordland and Niangua grew up along the railroad routes.
Early schools in the county were Marshfield Academy, chartered in 1860; Mt. Dale Academy, opened in 1873; and Henderson Academy, chartered in 1879.
On April 18, 1880, an intense tornado measuring F4 on the Fujita scale struck Marshfield. Its damage path was wide and long. The tornado killed 99 people and injured 100, and it is said that 10% of Marshfield's residents were killed and all but 15 of its buildings were destroyed. The composition “Marshfield Cyclone” by the African-American musician John W. (Blind) Boone gave wide publicity to the cyclone, which is still listed as one of the top ten natural disasters in the history of the nation.
Astronomer Edwin P. Hubble (1889–1953) was born in Marshfield and attended through the third grade in the public school system. A replica of the Hubble telescope sits in the courthouse yard and the Marshfield stretch of I-44 was named in his honor.
Marshfield holds claim to the oldest Independence Day parade west of the Mississippi River. Former President George Herbert Walker Bush and wife Barbara visited the parade on July 4, 1991, while campaigning for the presidency through Missouri. Webster County also boasts the longest continuous county fair in the state of Missouri.
The annual Seymour Apple Festival, established in 1973, has grown to one of Missouri's largest free celebrations, with estimated crowds of more than 30,000 congregating on the Seymour public square each second weekend of September. The festival pays tribute to Seymour's apple industry, which began in the 1840s, with Seymour being called "The Land Of The Big Red Apple" around the turn of the 20th century, when Webster County produced more than 50 percent of the state's apple crop.
Geography Webster County straddles the drainage divide between the Missouri and White rivers and the headwaters of the James, Niangua, Gasconade, and Pomme de Terre rivers arise in Webster County.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.
Adjacent counties Dallas County (northwest) Laclede County (northeast) Wright County (east) Douglas County (southeast) Christian County (southwest) Greene County (west)
Major highways Interstate 44 U.S. Route 60 Route 38
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Webster County, Missouri – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)20,15623,23229,60734,46935,89398.74%97.81%95.37%95.21%91.83%Black or African American alone (NH)621903583201940.30%0.80%1.15%0.88%0.50%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)721451902212430.35%0.61%0.61%0.61%0.62%Asian alone (NH)154581701410.07%0.19%0.26%0.19%0.36%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census569xx0.02%0.02%0.02%Other race alone (NH)711511860.03%0.00%0.05%0.03%0.22%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census3894931,729xx1.25%1.36%4.42%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1021404006127900.50%0.59%1.29%1.69%2.02%Total20,41423,75331,04536,20239,085 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 39,085. The median age was 37.6 years. 27.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.7 males, and the ratio among residents 18 and older was 101.1 males per 100 females.
The racial makeup of the county was 92.6% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.7% from some other race, and 5.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.0% of the population.
19.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 80.7% lived in rural areas.
There were 14,046 households in the county, of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 20.7% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 15,220 housing units, of which 7.7% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.7% were owner-occupied and 24.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.5%.
+Racial composition in Webster CountyRaceNum.Perc.White (NH)35,89392%Black or African American (NH)1940.5%Native American (NH)2430.62%Asian (NH)1410.36%Pacific Islander (NH)90.02%Other/Mixed (NH)1,8154.6%Hispanic or Latino7902% 2000 census As of the 2000 census, there were 31,045 people, 11,073 households, and 8,437 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 12,052 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.20% White, 1.16% Black or African American, 0.65% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 1.39% from two or more races. Approximately 1.29% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 11,073 households, out of which 37.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.00% were married couples living together, 8.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.80% were non-families. 20.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.90% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,948, and the median income for a family was $46,941. Males had a median income of $28,168 versus $20,768 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,948. About 9.60% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.00% of those under age 18 and 14.10% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
Local
The Republican Party predominantly controls politics at the local level in Webster County. Republicans hold all of the elected positions in the county.
State + Past gubernatorial elections results Year Republican Democratic Third parties202478.82% 15,49319.32% 3,7981.86% 365202078.71% 14,71519.13% 3,5772.16% 404201666.52% 11,45030.07% 5,0393.41% 572201254.56% 8,40642.65% 6,5702.79% 430200846.31% 7,52151.14% 8,3062.55% 414200467.61% 10,08631.18% 4,6511.21% 181200056.66% 6,72141.35% 4,9042.99% 236199654.63% 5,51241.43% 4,1803.94% 397
Webster County is split between Missouri's 129th and 141st districts in the Missouri House of Representatives.
District 129 — John Black (R-Marshfield). Consists of the western part of the county. District 141 — Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove). Consists of the eastern part of the county.
All of Webster County is part of Missouri's 20th district in the Missouri Senate and is currently represented by Curtis Trent (R-Greene County).
Federal
The northern half of Webster County is included in Missouri's 4th congressional district, which is currently represented by Mark Alford (R-Kansas City) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The southern half of the county is included in the 7th congressional district, which is represented by Eric Burlison (R-Springfield).
Political culture
Like most counties situated in Southwest Missouri, Webster County is a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. In 2020, Donald Trump garnered nearly 80% of the vote, with Joe Biden receiving 19%. Going back in time, George W. Bush carried Webster County in 2000 and 2004 by around two-to-one margins, and like many other rural counties throughout Missouri, Webster County strongly favored John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry Webster County was Jimmy Carter in 1976.