Christian County, Missouri

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Christian County, Missouri
Map of Missouri highlighting Christian County
Location in the state of Missouri
Map of the U.S. highlighting Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded March 8, 1859
Named for William Christian, a Kentucky soldier of the American Revolutionary War
Seat Ozark
Largest city Nixa
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
564.05 sq mi (1,461 km²)
563.16 sq mi (1,459 km²)
0.89 sq mi (2 km²), 0.16
Population
 - (2010)
 - Density
77,422
138/sq mi (53.07/km²)
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website www.christiancountymo.gov/

Christian County is a county located in Southwest Missouri. The county had a population of 54,285 in 2000 census. According to the 2010 census, the county's population is 77,422[1] (a 42.6 percentage increase from 2000 census), making it the fastest growing county in Missouri and one of the fastest growing in the nation as the county becomes more suburban as growth continues in Springfield. Its county seat is Ozark[2]. The county was organized in 1859 and is named after William Christian, a Kentucky soldier of the American Revolutionary War.

Christian County is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents

[edit] Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 564.05 square miles (1,460.9 km2), of which 563.16 square miles (1,458.6 km2) (or 99.84%) is land and 0.89 square miles (2.3 km2) (or 0.16%) is water.[3]

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] Major highways

[edit] National protected area

[edit] Education

[edit] Public schools

[edit] Private schools

  • Faith Christian School - Spokane - (PK-12) - Baptist

[edit] Colleges & Universities

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1860 5,491
—
1870 6,707 22.1%
1880 9,628 43.6%
1890 14,017 45.6%
1900 16,939 20.8%
1910 15,832 −6.5%
1920 15,252 −3.7%
1930 13,169 −13.7%
1940 13,538 2.8%
1950 12,412 −8.3%
1960 12,359 −0.4%
1970 15,124 22.4%
1980 22,402 48.1%
1990 32,644 45.7%
2000 54,285 66.3%
2010 77,422 42.6%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 54,285 people, 20,425 households, and 15,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 96 people per square mile (37/km²). There were 21,827 housing units at an average density of 39 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.31% White, 0.27% Black or African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.42% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. Approximately 1.32% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 23.7% were of American, 21.1% German, 12.3% English and 11.3% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 20,425 households out of which 38.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.00% were married couples living together, 9.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.40% were non-families. 19.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.80% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 31.70% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 94.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $50,200, and the median income for a family was $58,806. Males had a median income of $31,929 versus $21,852 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,873. About 7.10% of families and 9.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.20% of those under age 18 and 7.80% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Cities and towns

[edit] Politics

[edit] Local

Politics at the local level in Christian County is mostly controlled by the Republican Party. Democrat David Stokely, was appointed County Assessor following Sandra Bryant-Littles' removal from office. Sandra Bryant-Littles' was removed from office by the Missouri Attorney General due to criminal charges relating to her position as Assessor.

Christian County, Missouri
Elected countywide officials
Assessor David Stokely Democratic
Circuit Clerk Barbie Barnett-Stillings Republican
County Clerk Kay Brown Republican
Collector Ted Nichols Republican
Commissioner
(Presiding)		 Lou Lapaglia Republican
Commissioner
(District 1)		 Tom Huff Republican
Commissioner
(District 2)		 Bill Barnett Republican
Coroner Arthur Dean Adams, Jr. Republican
Prosecuting Attorney Amy Fite Republican
Public Administrator Ken Davis Republican
Recorder Kelly Hall Republican
Sheriff Joey Kyle Republican
Surveyor Loyd E. Todd Republican
Treasurer Karen Matthews Republican

[edit] State

Past Gubernatorial Elections Results
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2008 49.65% 18,556 47.73% 17,840 2.61% 977
2004 68.61% 21,400 30.27% 9,443 1.12% 348
2000 58.90% 13,646 39.49% 9,148 1.61% 373
1996 56.69% 10,559 40.22% 7,491 3.10% 577

Christian County is divided into two legislative districts in the Missouri House of Representatives, both represented by Republicans.

  • District 141 - Rep. Kevin Elmer (R-Nixa). In 2008, Wasson defeated Democratic challenger Ron Shawgo with 72.77% of the vote in the district to Shawgo's 27.23%; the Christian County precincts backed Wasson with 71.77% and gave 28.23% to Shawgo.
  • District 142 – Rep. Raymond Weter (R-Nixa). In 2008, Weter ran unopposed and was reelected with 99.78% of the total vote in the district, with the remainder of the vote going to Richard Green, a write-in candidate.

Christian County is also a part of Missouri's 20th Senatorial District and is currently represented by State Senator Jay Wasson (R-Nixa). In 2006, Clemens defeated Democratic challenger Barbie Kreider-Adams with 64.49% of the total vote in the district while she received 35.51% in the district; the Christian County precincts backed Clemens with 63.50% and gave 36.50% to her. The 20th Senatorial District consists of Christian, Douglas, Webster and parts of Greene counties in Southwest Missouri.

[edit] Federal

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Christian County is a part of Missouri's 7th Congressional District and is currently represented by Billy Long.

[edit] Political Culture

Past Presidential Elections Results
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2008 67.08% 25,382 31.41% 11,883 1.51% 572
2004 70.51% 22,102 28.90% 9,059 0.60% 187
2000 63.82% 14,824 33.99% 7,896 2.19% 508
1996 50.97% 9,477 35.64% 6,627 13.40% 2,491

Like most counties situated in Southwest Missouri, Christian County is a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. George W. Bush carried Christian County in 2000 and 2004 by more than two-to-one margins, and like many other rural and exurban counties throughout Missouri, Christian County strongly favored John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008. No Democratic presidential nominee has won Christian County in over 50 years.

Like most areas throughout the Bible Belt in Southwest Missouri, voters in Christian County traditionally adhere to socially and culturally conservative principles which tend to strongly influence their Republican leanings. In 2004, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman—it overwhelmingly passed Christian County with 80.46 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. In 2006, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state—it failed in Christian County with 58.98 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. Despite Christian County’s longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing populist causes like increasing the minimum wage. In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Christian County with 73.01 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 78.99 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.

[edit] Missouri Presidential Preference Primary (2008)

Voters in Christian County from both political parties supported candidates who finished in second place in the state at large and nationally.

  • Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas) received more votes, a total of 5,852, than any candidate from either party in Christian County during the 2008 Missouri Presidential Preference Primary.
Christian County, Missouri
2008 Republican primary in Missouri
John McCain 2,943 (24.37%)
Mike Huckabee 5,852 (48.46%)
Mitt Romney 2,748 (22.75%)
Ron Paul 416 (3.44%)
Christian County, Missouri
2008 Democratic primary in Missouri
Hillary Rodham Clinton 4,308 (57.68%)
Barack Obama 2,982 (39.93%)
John Edwards (withdrawn) 145 (1.94%)

[edit] In Film

The 2010 film Winter's Bone was filmed entirely in Taney County and Christian County. Many locals were cast in significant roles in the film.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ United States Census Bureau. "2010 Census Data". United States Census Bureau. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/. Retrieved 27 August 2011. 
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
  3. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
  4. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

[edit] External links

Greene County Webster County
Lawrence County Douglas County
   Christian County, Missouri    
Stone County Taney County
Municipalities and communities of Christian County, Missouri, United States
Cities
Village
CDP
Unincorporated
communities
Footnotes

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Topics
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Regions
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Largest cities
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independent cities

Coordinates: 36°58′N 93°11′W / 36.97°N 93.19°W / 36.97; -93.19

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