Ripley County, Missouri

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Ripley County is a county in the southeastern part of the state of Missouri. It had a population of 14,100 at the 2010 census.

The county was organized on January 5, 1833, and named after Brigadier General Eleazar Wheelock Ripley, a hero of the War of 1812. Doniphan is the county seat as well as the largest city.

History[edit]

At the time of European settlement, the future area of Ripley County, like most of southern Missouri, was under the sway of the powerful Osage tribe, though it was primarily a hunting ground rather than a permanent population center. The Natchitoches Trail, a prominent Indian trail leading to Texas and the modern Southwest that was later used by many American pioneers, passed through the region.

The first settlement in the area was made by Lemuel Kittrell about 1819 on the Current River. At this time, it was part of Wayne County, which had been created the previous year. Though the population remained low for some years to come, the construction of a road from Potosi in Washington County to Little Rock, Arkansas aided in movement, with particularly heavy construction near the future town of Doniphan. In 1833, the Missouri legislature organized a new county, which was named for General Eleazar W. Ripley, an American officer who had distinguished himself at the siege of Fort Erie in the War of 1812.^[1] Upon its creation, the county included modern Carter, Howell, Oregon, and Shannon Counties, with its new county seat the seat of today's Carter County, Van Buren. Despite this large size, the county had a population of only 2,856 at the 1840 census.^[2]

In the following years, the county's size was reduced, with Shannon being detached in 1841 and Oregon (then including Howell) in 1845. The separation of Carter County in 1859 brought Ripley near to its current dimensions, and required the selection of a new county seat; Doniphan, conveniently located on the Current River and near the county's geographic center, was chosen, with a courthouse built shortly afterward.

Ripley County was strongly pro-Southern in sympathies during the Civil War, with at least four colonels in the Confederate Army hailing from it. Most of Doniphan, including the first courthouse, was burned by Union troops in 1864, though the records were saved, and the effects of the war and its chaotic aftermath made recovery slow. A new courthouse was not built until 1871; it in turn was destroyed by fire in 1898 and replaced with a third structure the following year. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the county prospered from logging as the virgin forests were cut, and later from agriculture, especially fruit orchards. Though the latter remains important, light manufacturing and tourism have also become significant in recent decades.

The Ripley County Courthouse has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and celebrated its 100th anniversary during the 1999 Labor Day Homecoming Festivities.^[3]

Geography[edit]

Ripley County lies in southeastern Missouri, mostly in the transition zone between the Ozarks and the so-called "Bootheel" farther east. Its borders (last changed in 1872) give it a generally rectangular shape, except for some irregularities on its eastern boundary. It is bordered on the east by Butler County, on the south by the state of Arkansas, on the west by Oregon County, and on the north by Carter County.

The county has a total area of 631.64 square miles, including 629.54 of land and 2.10 of water.^[4] Most of it lies within the foothills of the Ozark Plateau, with the land becoming more rugged west of the Current River. The highest elevation, 940 feet above sea level, is in the extreme west near the Oregon County line. The southeastern portion of the county (separated from the rest by the Little Black River) is part of the flat and low-lying Mississippi Alluvial Plain, including the city of Naylor. It contains the lowest elevation, about 280 feet, near the Arkansas state line.^[5]

The main river in the county is the Current, which generally flows north to south through the center of the county before joining the Black in Arkansas. Other smaller streams are mostly also tributaries of the Black, chiefly the Little Black in the southeast. Most of the western part of the county is part of the Mark Twain National Forest, a federally protected area.

The most important highway in Ripley County is U.S. Route 160, which runs from west to east through its southern half. Other significant roads are Missouri State Highway 21, which enters from Carter County to the north and ends at the Arkansas line, and State Highway 142, which also runs from west to east and passes through Naylor. All three routes meet at Doniphan.

Demographics[edit]

At the 2010 census, Ripley County had a population of 14,100. The population density was 22.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was about 96.80% White, 0.35% African-American, 0.88% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.01% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.22% from some other race, and 1.41% from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 1.01% of the population.

The median age in the county was 42 years. 23.45% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.77% was between the ages of 18 and 24, 22.40% was between the ages of 25 and 44, 27.61% was between the ages of 45 and 64, and 18.76% was 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 49.5% male, 50.5% female.^[6]

As of 2017, the county had a median household income of $36,888. The unemployment rate was 6.0%. The per capita income was $17,502. 21.0% of the population lived below the poverty line.^[7]

Communities[edit]

Ripley County is home to four incorporated communities, including two cities and two census-designated places (CDPs).

Cities[edit]

• Doniphan (county seat)
• Naylor

CDPs[edit]

• Fairdealing
• Oxly

Government[edit]

Local government in Ripley County is provided by the elected officials. Traditionally, these have been dominated by the Democratic Party, but the Republicans have become more competitive in recent years and now hold a slim majority of the elected positions.^[8]

Countywide official	Name	Party
Assessor	Jan Spencer	Democratic
Circuit Clerk	Sharon R. Richmond	Republican
County Clerk	Becky York	Democratic
Collector	Marcia Tackett	Republican
Commissioner (presiding)	Jesse Roy	Republican
Commissioner (District 1)	Gary Emmons	Republican
Commissioner (District 2)	Andy Towell	Republican
Coroner	Mike Jackson	Democratic
Prosecuting Attorney	Edward Thompson	Democratic
Public Administrator	Diane K. Moore	Republican
Recorder	June Watson	Democratic
Sheriff	Mike Barton	Democratic
Surveyor	William T. Ayers	Republican
Treasurer	Terry L. Slayton	Republican

At the state level, all of Ripley County is part of the 153rd District, which also includes all of Carter County and portions of Butler and Wayne Counties. It is currently represented by Jeff Shawan (R-Poplar Bluff), who was elected to his first term in November 2018, defeating Democrat Matt Michel.

Candidate	Party	Votes	Vote Percentage
Jeff Shawan	Republican	9,717	74.471%
Matt Michel	Democratic	3,331	25.529%

Shawan somewhat underperformed within Ripley County, winning by a margin of 3,012 to 1,421.

In the Missouri State Senate, Ripley County is part of the 33rd District, which also includes Douglas, Howell, Oregon, Ozark, Texas, Webster, and Wright Counties. It is currently represented by Mike Cunningham (R-Rogersville), who was re-elected in November 2016 without opposition.

At the federal level, Ripley County is part of Missouri's 8th Congressional District, which includes most of southeast and south-central Missouri. It is represented by Jason Smith (R-Salem), who won re-election in November 2018, defeating Democrat Kathy Ellis.

Candidate	Party	Votes	Vote Percentage
Jason Smith	Republican	194,042	73.39%
Kathy Ellis	Democratic	66,151	25.019%
Jonathan Shell	Libertarian	4,206	1.591%

Smith somewhat overperformed his average margin in Ripley County, winning 79.702% of the vote.^[9]

Political Culture

As the above numbers indicate, though it sometimes continues to vote Democratic at the local level, Ripley County is solidly Republican at the state and federal level. Its voting patterns mirror those in much of the South and lower Midwest, and reflect those in the counties of the Ozarks to the west and the "Bootheel" to the east. In the 2016 general election, the county overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump, who won 81.86% of the vote.^[10]

Like much of southern Missouri, Ripley County can be included within the Bible Belt, and tends to combine social conservatism with economic populism. In 2004, it voted overwhelmingly in favor of Constitutional Amendment 2, which recognized marriage as between a man and a woman only—the measure passed in Ripley County with 89.06% support. In 2006, while the state overall narrowly passed an amendment to fund embryonic stem-cell research, the county defeated the measure with 57.39% voting against. At the same time, it frequently supports economic measures that appear to favor the working and middle class. In the November 2018 election, the county voted in favor of an increase in the state minimum wage (though with only 50.24% support, a somewhat smaller margin than elsewhere in the state). These results generally align with the rest of Southeast Missouri.

References[edit]