Shelby County, Missouri

Shelby County, Missouri
Location in the state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	1835
Seat	Shelbyville
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	502.43 sq mi (1,301 km²) 500.93 sq mi (1,297 km²) 1.49 sq mi (4 km²), 0.30%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	6,373 13/sq mi (5/km²)

Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 6,373. Its county seat is Shelbyville. The county was organized in 1835 and named for Kentucky governor Isaac Shelby.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 502.43 square miles (1,301.3 km²), of which 500.93 square miles (1,297.4 km²) (or 99.70%) is land and 1.49 square miles (3.9 km²) (or 0.30%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Knox County (north)
• Lewis County (northeast)
• Marion County (east)
• Monroe County (south)
• Randolph County (southwest)
• Macon County (west)

Major highways

• U.S. Route 36
• Route 15
• Route 151
• Route 168

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	16,167		—
1910	14,864		−8.1%
1920	13,617		−8.4%
1930	11,983		−12.0%
1940	11,224		−6.3%
1950	9,730		−13.3%
1960	9,063		−6.9%
1970	7,906		−12.8%
1980	7,826		−1.0%
1990	6,942		−11.3%
2000	6,799		−2.1%
2010	6,373		−6.3%

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,799 people, 2,745 households, and 1,847 families residing in the county. The population density was 14 people per square mile (5/km²). There were 3,245 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.87% White, 0.97% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.19% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 30.4% were of American, 26.9% German, 14.9% English and 8.5% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 2,745 households out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.90% were married couples living together, 7.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.70% were non-families. 30.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.40% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 19.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 91.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,448, and the median income for a family was $35,944. Males had a median income of $25,759 versus $18,996 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,632. About 13.00% of families and 16.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.70% of those under age 18 and 14.10% of those age 65 or over.

Notable Citizens

• Norm Stewart, legendary University Of Missouri basketball coach (from Shelbyville)
• Randall Duke Cunningham, only US Navy fighter ace of the Vietnam War, former Congressman (R) from California. (raised in Shelbina)
• Frank Hamilton Short, conservationist and advocate for states' rights and private development of natural resources in the early 20th century (born in Shelby County in 1862)
• Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart.
• Elizabeth Platz of Shelbina placed 2nd in the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Cities and towns

Bethel Clarence Emden

Hunnewell Lentner Leonard

Shelbina Shelbyville

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Shelby County, Missouri

External links

• Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Shelby County from University of Missouri Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books