Mississippi County, Missouri
Encyclopedia
Mississippi County is a county located in the Bootheel
Bootheel
The Missouri Bootheel is the southeasternmost part of the state of Missouri, extending south of 36°30’ north latitude, so called because its shape in relation to the rest of the state resembles the heel of a boot. Strictly speaking, it is composed of the counties of Dunklin, New Madrid, and Pemiscot...

 of Southeast Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As of the 2000 U.S. Census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

, the county's population was 13,427. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 13,504. The largest city and county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 is Charleston
Charleston, Missouri
Charleston is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,732 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mississippi County and it is a home to a local correctional facility.-History:...

. The county was officially organized on February 14, 1845, and was named after the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

.

History

Mississippi County is located in what was formerly known as "Tywappity Bottom," a vast area bordered by the Scott County Hills on the north, St. James Bayou on the south, the Mississippi River on the east and Little River on the west.

In 1540, Hernando De Soto penetrated to the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...

 and perhaps well into Southeast Missouri, populated only by various Native American tribes. Under the pressure of a constantly advancing white immigration, the Native Americans were forced to retreat further westward to survive. The entire area of Southeast Missouri was noted for its level swampy lowlands, subject to the overflow of the Mississippi River during periods of excessively heavy rainfall. Virgin forests attracted the timber barons who demanded the forests. Following the clearing of the land, levees were built and drainage districts were formed. As hundreds of miles of levees and dikes were constructed within the drainage districts, thousands of acres of land were reclaimed for agriculture use. The reclaimed land, was made especially rich by centuries of floods from the Mississippi River, was excellent farm land for corn, wheat, cotton, and later soybeans and rice.

By 1820 settlements had been made in most of the present counties of Southeast Missouri. The settlers, largely farmers, came from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, in search for fertile and cheap land which they found around Charleston.

The site of the present City of Charleston was originally entered in 1830. In 1837, a person
by the name of Thankful Randol sold Joseph Moore 22½ acres of land and the City of Charleston was immediately laid out. Its original boundary was 12 blocks - four north and south and three east and west. The Original Plat was filed on May 20, 1837. An act to incorporate the City of Charleston, Missouri, in the County of Mississippi, was enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri on March 25, 1872.

Religion

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives County Membership Report (2000), Mississippi County is a part of the Bible Belt
Bible Belt
Bible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average.The...

 with evangelical Protestantism being the majority religion. The most predominant denominations among residents in Mississippi County who adhere to a religion are Southern Baptists
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...

 (53.88%), Methodists
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...

 (13.70%), and Christian Churches and Churches of Christ (7.55%).

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 428.91 square miles (1,110.9 km²), of which 413.16 square miles (1,070.1 km²) (or 96.33%) is land and 15.75 square miles (40.8 km²) (or 3.67%) is water.

Adjacent counties

  • Alexander County, Illinois
    Alexander County, Illinois
    Alexander County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 8,238, which is a decrease of 14.1% from 9,590 in 2000. Its county seat is Cairo. Alexander County is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical...

      (north)
  • Ballard County, Kentucky
    Ballard County, Kentucky
    Ballard County is a county located in west of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was created by the Kentucky State Legislature in 1842, and is named for Captain Bland Ballard, a soldier, statesman, and member of the Kentucky General Assembly. He was one of the few Kentucky volunteers to survive the...

      (northeast)
  • Carlisle County, Kentucky
    Carlisle County, Kentucky
    Carlisle County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1886 and as of 2000, had a population of 5,351. Its county seat is Bardwell, Kentucky. The county is named for John Griffin Carlisle, a Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky...

      (east)
  • Hickman County, Kentucky
    Hickman County, Kentucky
    Hickman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1822. The elevation in the county ranges from to above sea level. As of 2000, the population was 5,262. Its county seat is Clinton. It is the least densely populated county in the state and is a prohibition or...

      (southeast)
  • Fulton County, Kentucky
    Fulton County, Kentucky
    Fulton County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1845 from Hickman County, Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 7,752. Its county seat is Hickman. The county is named for American inventor Robert Fulton...

      (south)
  • New Madrid County
    New Madrid County, Missouri
    New Madrid County is a county located in the Bootheel of southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 Census, the county's population was 19,760. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 17,589. The largest city and county seat is New Madrid...

      (southwest)
  • Scott County
    Scott County, Missouri
    Scott County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 40,422; a 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 40,673. Its county seat is Benton...

      (northwest)


Despite the fact that four of the seven counties that Mississippi County borders are in Kentucky, there is no direct highway connection between Mississippi County and its four neighboring Kentucky counties. In fact, none of the four Kentucky counties that border Missouri have any direct highway connection with Missouri, making Kentucky and Missouri the only two U.S. states to border each other without a direct highway connection between them.

Major highways

  • Interstate 57
  • U.S. Route 60
  • U.S. Route 62
  • Route 77
  • Route 80
  • Route 105

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 13,427 people, 5,383 households, and 3,671 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 32 people per square mile (13/km²). There were 5,840 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 77.93% White, 20.53% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.89% from two or more races. Approximately 0.96% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,383 households out of which 31.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.70% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 17.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 28.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.30% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 15.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 87.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,837, and the median income for a family was $35,554. Males had a median income of $26,110 versus $17,204 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the county was $16,847. About 19.00% of families and 23.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.70% of those under age 18 and 21.70% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Of adults 25 years of age and older in Mississippi County, 61.1% possesses a high school diploma
High school diploma
A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for government jobs and higher education. An equivalent is the GED.-Past diploma styles:...

 or higher while 9.6% holds a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 or higher as their highest educational attainment.

Public Schools

  • Charleston R-I School District - Charleston
    Charleston, Missouri
    Charleston is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,732 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mississippi County and it is a home to a local correctional facility.-History:...

    • Charleston Kindergarten Center (K)
    • Warren E. Hearnes Elementary School (K-05)
    • A.D. Simpson 6th Grade Center (06)
    • Charleston Middle School (07-08)
    • Charleston High School (09-12)
  • East Prairie R-II School District - East Prairie
    East Prairie, Missouri
    East Prairie is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,227 at the 2000 census. In 1881, the area was originally known as Bell's Grade and Hibbard and developed as a result of the railroad...

    • R.A. Doyle Elementary School (PK-02)
    • A.J. Martin Elementary School (03-06)
    • East Prairie Jr. High School (07-08)
    • East Prairie High School (09-12)

Private Schools

  • St. Henry's School - Charleston
    Charleston, Missouri
    Charleston is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,732 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mississippi County and it is a home to a local correctional facility.-History:...

     - (01-08) - Roman Catholic
    Roman Catholic Church
    The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...


Cities and towns

  • Anniston
    Anniston, Missouri
    Anniston is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 285 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a town.In 1963, voters of the Charleston, Anniston, and Fox school districts passed a unified school district reorganization plan by a vote of 1,111 to...

  • Bird's Point
    Bird's Point, Missouri
    Bird's Point is an unincorporated community in Mississippi County, Missouri. It lies on an island or former island in the Mississippi River, near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and is situated directly across from Cairo, Illinois. This is the point where the U.S...

  • Bertrand
    Bertrand, Missouri
    Bertrand is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 740 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bertrand is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land....

  • Charleston
    Charleston, Missouri
    Charleston is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,732 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mississippi County and it is a home to a local correctional facility.-History:...

  • Deventer
    Deventer, Missouri
    - Location :Deventer is an unincorporated community in eastern Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Route 77 about ten miles southeast of Charleston.-Origin:...

  • Dorena
    Dorena, Missouri
    Dorena is an unincorporated community in southeastern Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. It is located at the intersection of Route 77 and Route 102, about thirteen miles southeast of East Prairie. Its post office has closed, and mail now comes from East Prairie. The community was...

  • East Prairie
    East Prairie, Missouri
    East Prairie is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,227 at the 2000 census. In 1881, the area was originally known as Bell's Grade and Hibbard and developed as a result of the railroad...

  • Miner
    Miner, Missouri
    Miner is a city in Mississippi and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. It borders the city of Sikeston to the east. The population was 1,056 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Miner is located at ....

  • Pinhook
    Pinhook, Missouri
    Pinhook is a village in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 48 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Pinhook is located at ....

  • Wilson City
    Wilson City, Missouri
    Wilson City is a village in Mississippi County, Missouri. The population was 165 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wilson City is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land....

  • Wolf Island
    Wolf Island, Missouri
    Wolf Island is an unincorporated community in eastern Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Route 77 about nine miles east of East Prairie. The community was founded in 1792 and is named for Wolf Island in the Mississippi River, which is part of Kentucky...

  • Wyatt
    Wyatt, Missouri
    Wyatt is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 364 at the 2000 census. It is the eastern most city west of the Mississippi river.-Geography:Wyatt is located at ....


  • Local

    Politics at the local level in Mississippi County is completely controlled by the Democratic Party
    Democratic Party (United States)
    The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

    . All of Mississippi County's elected officeholders are Democrats.

    State

    Past Gubernatorial Elections Results
    Year Republican
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

    Democratic
    Democratic Party (United States)
    The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

    Third Parties
    Third party (United States)
    The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...

    2008
    Missouri gubernatorial election, 2008
    -Polling:-Results:-See also:* U.S. gubernatorial elections, 2008* Missouri gubernatorial election, 2004* Missouri Lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2008-External links:* from the Missouri Secretary of State* at Project Vote Smart...

    50.27% 2,659 47.70% 2,523 2.03% 107
    2004
    Missouri gubernatorial election, 2004
    The 2004 Missouri gubernatorial election took place on 2 November 2004 for the post of Governor of Missouri. Missouri Secretary of State Republican Matt Blunt defeated State Auditor Democrat Claire McCaskill...

    48.65% 2,558 50.30% 2,645 1.05% 55
    2000 41.97% 2,170 56.79% 2,936 1.24% 64
    1996 25.52% 1,325 73.11% 3,796 1.37% 71


    In the Missouri House of Representatives
    Missouri House of Representatives
    The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 31,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections held in even-numbered years.In 1992 Missouri...

    , all of Mississippi County is a part of Missouri’s 161st District and is currently represented by Steve Hodges (D-East Prairie
    East Prairie, Missouri
    East Prairie is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,227 at the 2000 census. In 1881, the area was originally known as Bell's Grade and Hibbard and developed as a result of the railroad...

    ).

    In the Missouri Senate
    Missouri Senate
    The Missouri State Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 160,000...

    , all of Mississippi County is a part of Missouri's 27th District and is currently represented by State Senator
    Missouri Senate
    The Missouri State Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 160,000...

     Jason Crowell
    Jason Glennon Crowell
    Jason Glennon Crowell is a state senator from the U.S. state of Missouri currently serving his second term in the Missouri Senate. He succeeded the seat previously held by Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder...

     (R-Cape Girardeau). Crowell defeated Linda Sanders (D-Jackson) by almost a two-to-one margin, 64.24-35.76 percent in the district. The 27th Senatorial District consists of Bollinger
    Bollinger County, Missouri
    Bollinger County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county's population was 12,363; despite a 2009 estimate that showed the population to be 11,841. The county seat is Marble Hill, which is the only city in Bollinger County...

    , Cape Girardeau
    Cape Girardeau County, Missouri
    Cape Girardeau County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county's population was 75,764. While the largest city in the county is Cape Girardeau, the county seat is actually Jackson, which was the first city named in honor of President...

    , Madison
    Madison County, Missouri
    Madison County is a county located in the Lead Belt region in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 11,800. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 12,276. Its county seat and largest city is Fredericktown...

    , Mississippi, Perry
    Perry County, Missouri
    Perry County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 18,132. In 2008 the population was estimated to be 18,743. Its county seat is Perryville. The county was officially organized on November 16, 1820 from Ste...

    , and Scott
    Scott County, Missouri
    Scott County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 40,422; a 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 40,673. Its county seat is Benton...

     counties.

    Federal

    In the U.S. House of Representatives
    United States House of Representatives
    The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

    , Mississippi County is represented by Jo Ann Emerson
    Jo Ann Emerson
    Jo Ann Emerson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1996. The district consists of Southeast and South Central Missouri and includes the Bootheel, the Lead Belt and the Ozarks. Emerson is a member of the Republican Party....

     (R-Cape Girardeau) who represents all of Southeast Missouri as part of Missouri's 8th Congressional District.

    Political Culture

    Past Presidential Elections Results
    Year Republican
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

    Democratic
    Democratic Party (United States)
    The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

    Third Parties
    Third party (United States)
    The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...

    2008 56.65% 3,034 41.95% 2,247 1.40% 75
    2004 54.79% 2,903 44.81% 2,374 0.40% 21
    2000 45.93% 2,395 52.85% 2,756 2.33% 439
    1996 30.39% 1,595 61.63% 3,235 7.98% 419


    At the presidential level, Mississippi County is a fairly independent-leaning or battleground county although, like many counties in the impoverished Bootheel with a significant African American population, it does has a slight tendency to lean Democratic. While George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     carried Mississippi County in 2004
    United States presidential election, 2004
    The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

    , Al Gore
    Al Gore
    Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

     won the county in 2000
    United States presidential election, 2000
    The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....

    , although both times the margins of victory were significantly closer than in many of the other rural areas. Bill Clinton
    Bill Clinton
    William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

     also carried Mississippi both times in 1992
    United States presidential election, 1992
    The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....

     and 1996
    United States presidential election, 1996
    The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...

     by convincing double-digit margins. And like many of the other rural counties in Missouri, Mississippi County favored John McCain
    John McCain
    John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

     over Barack Obama
    Barack Obama
    Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

     in 2008
    United States presidential election, 2008
    The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

    , although the margin of victory was smaller than in most rural areas.

    Like most rural areas throughout Missouri, voters in Mississippi County generally adhere to socially and culturally conservative
    Conservatism
    Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

     principles but are more moderate or populist
    Populism
    Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

     on economic issues, typical of the Dixiecrat
    Dixiecrat
    The States' Rights Democratic Party was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States in 1948...

     philosophy. In 2004, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman
    Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2004)
    Constitutional Amendment 2 of 2004 is an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that prohibited same-sex marriages from being conducted or recognized in Missouri. The Amendment passed via public referendum on August 3, 2004 with 71% of voters supporting and 29% opposing. Every county voted in...

    —it overwhelmingly passed Mississippi County with 86.87 percent of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71 percent of support from voters as Missouri became the first state to ban same-sex marriage
    Same-sex marriage
    Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

    . In 2006, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state
    Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2006)
    Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 is a state constitutional amendment initiative that concerns stem cell research and human cloning in Missouri...

    —it failed in Mississippi County with 57.35 percent voting against the measure. The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51 percent of support from voters as Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve embryonic stem cell research
    Embryonic stem cell
    Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells...

    . Despite Mississippi County’s longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing populist
    Populism
    Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

     causes like increasing the minimum wage
    Minimum wage
    A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...

    . In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Mississippi County with 75.66 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 75.94 percent voting in favor as the minimum wage was increased to $6.50 an hour in the state. During the same election, voters in five other states also strongly approved increases in the minimum wage.

    Missouri Presidential Preference Primary (2008)

    In the 2008 Missouri Presidential Preference Primary, voters in Mississippi County from both political parties supported candidates who finished in second place in the state at large and nationally.
    • Former U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
      Hillary Rodham Clinton
      Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...

       (D-New York
      New York
      New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

      ) received more votes, a total of 1,094, than any candidate from either party in Mississippi County during the 2008 Missouri Presidential Presidential Preference Primary.

    See also


    External links

    • Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Mississippi County from University of Missouri
      University of Missouri
      The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

       Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books
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