Buchanan County, Missouri

Buchanan County, Missouri
Location in the state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	December 31, 1838
Named for	U.S. Senator, later President James Buchanan in 1839
Seat	St. Joseph
Largest city	St. Joseph
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	414.57 sq mi (1,074 km²) 409.73 sq mi (1,061 km²) 4.84 sq mi (13 km²), 1.17
Population  - (2010)  - Density	89,201 218/sq mi (84/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	http://www.co.buchanan.mo.us/

The Buchanan County Courthouse in downtown St. Joseph

Buchanan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 89,201. Its county seat is Saint Joseph. When originally formed in 1838, the county was named Roberts County, after settler Hiram Roberts; it was renamed in 1839 for James Buchanan, then a U.S. Senator, later President of the United States. Sarah Davies, a Western Emigrant, in her diary entry of May 22, 1851 states “we camped on the black snake hills of bucannan county” she concludes her entry “beautiful green as fair as the eye can see a more beautiful sight I never saw”. The county, along with Andrew and DeKalb counties in Missouri and Doniphan County, Kansas, is included in the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2008 had an estimated population of 126,359.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 414.57 square miles (1,073.7 km²), of which 409.73 square miles (1,061.2 km²) (or 98.83%) is land and 4.84 square miles (12.5 km²) (or 1.17%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Andrew County (north)
• DeKalb County (northeast)
• Clinton County (east)
• Platte County (south)
• Atchison County, Kansas (southwest)
• Doniphan County, Kansas (northwest)

Major highways

• Interstate 29
• Interstate 229
• U.S. Route 36
• U.S. Route 59
• U.S. Route 71
• U.S. Route 169
• Route 6
• Route 31
• Route 116
• Route 371

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1840	6,237		—
1850	12,975		108.0%
1860	23,861		83.9%
1870	35,109		47.1%
1880	49,792		41.8%
1890	70,100		40.8%
1900	121,838		73.8%
1910	93,020		−23.7%
1920	93,684		0.7%
1930	98,633		5.3%
1940	94,067		−4.6%
1950	96,826		2.9%
1960	90,581		−6.4%
1970	86,915		−4.0%
1980	87,888		1.1%
1990	83,083		−5.5%
2000	85,998		3.5%
2010	89,201		3.7%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 85,998 people, 33,557 households, and 21,912 families residing in the county. The population density was 210 people per square mile (81/km²). There were 36,574 housing units at an average density of 89 per square mile (34/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.73% White, 4.36% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.65% from other races, and 1.37% from two or more races. 2.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 33,557 households out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.30% were married couples living together, 12.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.70% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.30% under the age of 18, 11.00% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,704, and the median income for a family was $42,408. Males had a median income of $31,697 versus $21,827 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,882. About 8.50% of families and 12.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.00% of those under age 18 and 9.60% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Cities

• Saint Joseph

Villages

• Agency
• De Kalb
• Easton
• Halls
• Lewis and Clark Village
• Rushville

Unincorporated towns

• Faucett
• Wallace

Townships

Buchanan County is divided into twelve townships:

Agency Bloomington Center Crawford

Jackson Lake Marion Platte

Rush Tremont Washington Wayne

See also

• List of counties in Missouri
• Missouri census statistical areas
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Buchanan County, Missouri

External links

• Buchanan County government's website
• St. Joseph Missouri City Directories
• St. Joseph Missouri Yearbook Indexes
• Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Buchanan County from University of Missouri Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books