Putnam County, Missouri

Putnam County
Putnam County Courthouse in Unionville
Putnam County Courthouse in Unionville
Map of Missouri highlighting Putnam County
Location within the U.S. state of Missouri
Map of the United States highlighting Missouri
Missouri's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 40°29′N 93°01′W / 40.48°N 93.02°W / 40.48; -93.02
Country United States
State Missouri
FoundedFebruary 28, 1845
Named forIsrael Putnam
SeatUnionville
Largest cityUnionville
Area
 • Total520 sq mi (1,300 km2)
 • Land517 sq mi (1,340 km2)
 • Water2.3 sq mi (6 km2)  0.4%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total4,681
 • Density9.0/sq mi (3.5/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district6th
Websitenemr.net/~putco/

Putnam County is a county in north central Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,681.[1] Its county seat is Unionville.[2] The county was organized February 28, 1845, and named for Israel Putnam, a hero in the French and Indian War and a general in the American Revolutionary War.[3]

Putnam County was established February 28, 1845, from parts of Adair and Sullivan counties. The following year a portion of Putnam was removed to form Dodge County. Both Putnam and Dodge extended nearly nine miles further north until an 1851 ruling by the Supreme Court on a border dispute with Iowa assigned the contested land to Iowa. Both counties were left with less than the statutory minimum area for a county as set by the state legislature, so Dodge County was dissolved and its area added to Putnam.[4]

In its early years, the county seat changed frequently, often with contentious debate. Putnamville, Bryant Station (both no longer in existence), and Hartford all served until a central location called Harmony, later renamed Unionville, was chosen.[5]

In the 1860 U.S. Census Putnam County had 9,240 residents, with eighteen sawmills and three flour mills.[6] Coal had been an abundant since its earliest settlement. Following the arrival of the Burlington & Southwestern Railway in 1873, coal mining became a major industry, especially in the east of the county. At one time three railroads crossed Putnam county: the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul; the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy; and the Iowa and St. Louis.[7] Putnam County lost over two-thirds of its population between the years 1900 and 2000 (see census data below), when the United States changed from a rural to an urban country.

  1. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. ^ Eaton, David Wolfe (1917). How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named. The State Historical Society of Missouri. pp. 343.
  4. ^ Missouri State Historical Society marker, 1958
  5. ^ "A Directory of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets of Missouri". thelibrary.org. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  6. ^ The Missouri Handbook by P.M. Pinckard. Published 1865
  7. ^ A History of Northeast Missouri, Vol.1 Chapter 25. Published 1913.