Former County Names
| County | Etymology | Changed to |
|---|---|---|
| Allen County | Unknown | Atchison County in 1845 |
| Ashley County | William Henry Ashley (1778–1838), early settler | Texas County in 1845 upon organization |
| Decatur County | Stephen Decatur (1779–1820), American naval officer | Ozark County in 1845 |
| Highland County | Unknown | Sullivan County in 1845 upon organization |
| Kinderhook County | Kinderhook, New York, birthplace of Martin Van Buren | Camden County in 1843 |
| Lillard County | James Lillard of Tennessee, who served in the first state legislature of Missouri | Lafayette County in 1825 |
| Niangua County | Niangua River, a tributary of the Osage River – "niangua" comes from the Native American word nehemgar, which means "a river of numerous springs or sources" | Dallas County in 1844 because of the difficulty in pronouncing and spelling Niangua |
| Seneca County | Seneca Nation, a group of Native Americans from New York | McDonald County in 1847 upon organization |
| Van Buren County | Martin Van Buren (1782–1862), eighth President of the United States and also Vice President under Andrew Jackson | Cass County in 1849 in honor of Van Buren's opponent in the presidential election of 1848 |
Read more about this topic: List Of Counties In Missouri
Famous quotes containing the words county and/or names:
“It would astonish if not amuse, the older citizens of your County who twelve years ago knew me a stranger, friendless, uneducated, penniless boy, working on a flat boat—at ten dollars per month to learn that I have been put down here as the candidate of pride, wealth, and aristocratic family distinction.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“A knowledge that people live close by is,
I think, enough. And even if only first names are ever exchanged
The people who own them seem rock-true and marvelously self-sufficient.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)