Wayne County, Missouri | |
|---|---|
 Wayne County Courthouse in Greenville | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofMissouri | |
| Coordinates:37°07′N90°28′W / 37.11°N 90.46°W /37.11; -90.46 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Missouri |
| Founded | December 11, 1818 |
| Named after | Anthony Wayne |
| Seat | Greenville |
| Largest city | Piedmont |
| Area | |
• Total | 774 sq mi (2,000 km2) |
| • Land | 759 sq mi (1,970 km2) |
| • Water | 15 sq mi (39 km2) 1.9% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 10,974 |
| • Density | 14.5/sq mi (5.58/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 8th |
Wayne County is acounty located in theOzark foothills in theU.S. state ofMissouri. As of the2020 census, the population was 10,974.[1] Thecounty seat isGreenville.[2] The county was officially organized on December 11, 1818, and is named after General "Mad"Anthony Wayne, who served in theAmerican Revolution.[3] As of August 28, 2023, Wayne County is designated the UFO Capital of Missouri, along with the city of Piedmont.[4]
Wayne County was created in December 1818 by the last Missouri Territorial Legislature from portions ofCape Girardeau and Lawrence counties. Wayne County thus actually predates statehood. In March 1819, Congress established the Territory ofArkansas, and most of Lawrence County became Lawrence County, Arkansas Territory. The small strip that had been excluded was added to Wayne County by the Missouri State Constitution of 1820. The Osage Strip on theKansas border was added in 1825. Between 1825 and 1831, Wayne County was actually larger than the states ofMassachusetts,Connecticut,Rhode Island, andDelaware combined. All or part of 32 present Missouri counties once belonged to Wayne County. Despite its size, the Census of 1820 revealed that Wayne County had a total population of just 1,239white inhabitants and 204African American slaves.
When Wayne County was formed in 1818, the territorial legislature appointed five commissioners to govern it. They chose a small settlement called Cedar Cabin on the St. Francis River to be the county seat. RenamedGreenville, it had grown to about 1,000 by the turn of the 20th century. By 1940, however, the population had declined to 572. In 1941, the remaining inhabitants were forced to relocate because of the construction ofLake Wappapello. This new town's population had fallen to 270 in 1950, but has now increased to about 563.
The Wayne County Courthouse was destroyed by a fire in 1854. In 1866, the records in new courthouse were stolen, and in 1892 the courthouse again burned down. Thus few county records survive from that time.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 774 square miles (2,000 km2), of which 759 square miles (1,970 km2) is land and 15 square miles (39 km2) (1.9%) is water.[5]
The most populous community in Wayne County isPiedmont with a population of 2,401 people,[6] followed byGreenville with 563 andWilliamsville with 386.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1820 | 1,443 | — | |
| 1830 | 3,264 | 126.2% | |
| 1840 | 3,403 | 4.3% | |
| 1850 | 4,518 | 32.8% | |
| 1860 | 5,629 | 24.6% | |
| 1870 | 6,068 | 7.8% | |
| 1880 | 9,096 | 49.9% | |
| 1890 | 11,927 | 31.1% | |
| 1900 | 15,309 | 28.4% | |
| 1910 | 15,181 | −0.8% | |
| 1920 | 13,012 | −14.3% | |
| 1930 | 12,243 | −5.9% | |
| 1940 | 12,794 | 4.5% | |
| 1950 | 10,514 | −17.8% | |
| 1960 | 8,638 | −17.8% | |
| 1970 | 8,546 | −1.1% | |
| 1980 | 11,277 | 32.0% | |
| 1990 | 11,543 | 2.4% | |
| 2000 | 13,259 | 14.9% | |
| 2010 | 13,521 | 2.0% | |
| 2020 | 10,974 | −18.8% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[7] 1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9] 1990-2000[10] 2010-2015[11] | |||
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 10,974. The median age was 49.3 years. 19.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 26.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.3 males age 18 and over.[13]
The racial makeup of the county was 92.6% White, 0.5%Black or African American, 0.7%American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Asian, 0.0%Native Hawaiian andPacific Islander, 0.3% from some other race, and 5.7% fromtwo or more races.Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.4% of the population.[14]
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White (NH) | 10,093 | 92% |
| Black or African American (NH) | 50 | 0.45% |
| Native American (NH) | 67 | 0.6% |
| Asian (NH) | 23 | 0.21% |
| Pacific Islander (NH) | 5 | 0.05% |
| Other/Mixed (NH) | 581 | 5.3% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 155 | 1.41% |
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.[15]
There were 4,756 households in the county, of which 23.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 25.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[13]
There were 6,109 housing units, of which 22.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.5% were owner-occupied and 24.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.2%.[13]
As of the 2010Census,[16] there were 13,521 people, 5,717 households, and 3,850 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 18 people per square mile (6.9 people/km2). There were 8,083 housing units at an average density of 11 units per square mile (4.2/km2).
The racial makeup of the county was 97%White, 0.7%Black orAfrican American, 0.4%Native American, 0.1%Asian, 0%Pacific Islander, 0% fromother races, and 1.8% from two or more races. 1.5% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 5,717 households, out of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were husband-wife families. 32.7% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.1% under the age of 19, 5% from 20 to 24, 14.2% from 25 to 39, 36.4% from 40 to 64, and 21.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.8 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,954, and the median income for a family was $39,419. Males had a median income of $26,048 versus $18,250 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $18,378. About 15.8% of families and 23% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 31.9% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.
According to the 2000 Census, the most common first ancestries reported in Wayne County were 32.9%American, 15.0%German, 11.9%English, 11.7%Irish, 3.0%French (excludingBasque), 2.0%Dutch and 2.0%Italian.
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives County Membership Report (2000), Wayne County is a part of theBible Belt with evangelical Protestantism being the majority religion. The most predominant denominations among residents in Wayne County who adhere to a religion areBaptists (62.76%),Methodists (10.08%), andRoman Catholics (7.07%).
TheRepublican Party dominates politics at the local level in Wayne County and controls all offices.
| Wayne County, Missouri | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Elected countywide officials | |||
| Assessor | Frances Huitt | Republican | |
| Circuit Clerk | Darren T. Garrison | Republican | |
| County Clerk | Rhonda Crum | Republican | |
| Collector | Tammy Morgan | Republican | |
| Commissioner (presiding) | Brian M. Polk | Republican | |
| Commissioner (district 1) | Doug Wood | Republican | |
| Commissioner (district 2) | Steve Foster | Republican | |
| Coroner | Mark Smith | Republican | |
| Prosecuting Attorney | Ginger Joynor | Republican | |
| Public Administrator | Dianne Webb | Republican | |
| Recorder | Cindy Stout | Republican | |
| Sheriff | Kyle Shearrer | Republican | |
| Treasurer | Amber Sturgeon | Republican | |
Wayne County is divided among two legislative districts in theMissouri House of Representatives.
All of Wayne County is a part of Missouri's 27th District in theMissouri Senate and is currently represented by Holly Thompson Rehder (R)-Sikeston.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Holly Rehder | 4,684 | 82.81% | ||
| Democratic | Donnie Owens | 972 | 17.19% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Wayne Wallingford | 3,956 | 73.60% | ||
| Democratic | Donnie Owens | 1,419 | 26.40% | ||
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third Parties |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 85.54%4,906 | 12.71%729 | 1.74%100 |
| 2020 | 82.60%4,801 | 15.50%900 | 1.60%93 |
| 2016 | 72.00%4,098 | 25.00%1,425 | 1.40%80 |
| 2012 | 46.82%2,642 | 50.77%2,865 | 2.41%136 |
| 2008 | 44.62%2,727 | 53.49%3,269 | 1.88%115 |
| 2004 | 58.84%3,649 | 39.86%2,472 | 1.31%81 |
| 2000 | 51.84%3,008 | 46.25%2,684 | 1.92%111 |
| 1996 | 42.84%2,421 | 55.11%3,114 | 2.05%116 |
| 1992 | 42.65%2,493 | 57.35%3,352 | 2.05%116 |
| 1988 | 60.16%3,047 | 39.76%2,014 | 0.08%4 |
| 1984 | 53.79%2,787 | 46.21%2,394 | 0.00%0 |
| 1980 | 51.05%2,769 | 48.89%2,652 | 0.06%3 |
| 1976 | 49.37%2,428 | 50.61%2,489 | 0.02%1 |
Wayne County is included inMissouri's 8th Congressional District and is currently represented byJason T. Smith (R-Salem) in theU.S. House of Representatives. Smith won a special election on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, to finish out the remaining term ofU.S. RepresentativeJo Ann Emerson (R-Cape Girardeau). Emerson announced her resignation a month after being reelected with over 70 percent of the vote in the district. She resigned to become CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jo Ann Emerson | 4,232 | 74.65 | +5.61 | |
| Democratic | Jack Rushin | 1,311 | 23.13 | −4.40 | |
| Libertarian | Rick Vandeven | 126 | 2.22 | +1.07 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jason T. Smith | 817 | 56.34 | ||
| Democratic | Steve Hodges | 332 | 22.90 | ||
| Constitution | Doug Enyart | 278 | 19.17 | ||
| Libertarian | Bill Slantz | 23 | 1.59 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jason T. Smith | 4,823 | 84.20 | ||
| Democratic | Kathy Ellis | 821 | 14.30 | ||
| Libertarian | Tom Schmitz | 85 | 1.50 | ||
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1888 | 1,001 | 41.13% | 1,428 | 58.67% | 5 | 0.21% |
| 1892 | 964 | 39.85% | 1,393 | 57.59% | 62 | 2.56% |
| 1896 | 1,418 | 47.14% | 1,568 | 52.13% | 22 | 0.73% |
| 1900 | 1,648 | 48.09% | 1,745 | 50.92% | 34 | 0.99% |
| 1904 | 1,678 | 50.38% | 1,567 | 47.04% | 86 | 2.58% |
| 1908 | 1,554 | 47.11% | 1,641 | 49.74% | 104 | 3.15% |
| 1912 | 1,052 | 35.46% | 1,432 | 48.26% | 483 | 16.28% |
| 1916 | 1,528 | 47.32% | 1,594 | 49.37% | 107 | 3.31% |
| 1920 | 2,380 | 52.28% | 2,072 | 45.52% | 100 | 2.20% |
| 1924 | 1,958 | 44.11% | 2,283 | 51.43% | 198 | 4.46% |
| 1928 | 2,662 | 56.82% | 2,011 | 42.92% | 12 | 0.26% |
| 1932 | 1,955 | 37.82% | 3,172 | 61.37% | 42 | 0.81% |
| 1936 | 2,494 | 43.41% | 3,235 | 56.31% | 16 | 0.28% |
| 1940 | 2,735 | 47.66% | 2,991 | 52.12% | 13 | 0.23% |
| 1944 | 2,171 | 49.92% | 2,169 | 49.87% | 9 | 0.21% |
| 1948 | 1,937 | 41.80% | 2,695 | 58.16% | 2 | 0.04% |
| 1952 | 2,423 | 49.08% | 2,500 | 50.64% | 14 | 0.28% |
| 1956 | 2,513 | 50.62% | 2,451 | 49.38% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 3,069 | 58.78% | 2,152 | 41.22% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1964 | 2,019 | 40.19% | 3,005 | 59.81% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 2,156 | 47.79% | 1,714 | 38.00% | 641 | 14.21% |
| 1972 | 3,091 | 63.90% | 1,746 | 36.10% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1976 | 1,963 | 39.59% | 2,987 | 60.25% | 8 | 0.16% |
| 1980 | 2,823 | 51.86% | 2,549 | 46.82% | 72 | 1.32% |
| 1984 | 2,867 | 54.82% | 2,363 | 45.18% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1988 | 2,648 | 51.80% | 2,456 | 48.04% | 8 | 0.16% |
| 1992 | 2,101 | 34.91% | 3,073 | 51.05% | 845 | 14.04% |
| 1996 | 2,172 | 38.45% | 2,754 | 48.75% | 723 | 12.80% |
| 2000 | 3,346 | 57.22% | 2,387 | 40.82% | 115 | 1.97% |
| 2004 | 3,919 | 63.17% | 2,250 | 36.27% | 35 | 0.56% |
| 2008 | 3,784 | 61.49% | 2,243 | 36.45% | 127 | 2.06% |
| 2012 | 3,790 | 66.26% | 1,813 | 31.70% | 117 | 2.05% |
| 2016 | 4,658 | 80.84% | 948 | 16.45% | 156 | 2.71% |
| 2020 | 4,987 | 84.84% | 845 | 14.38% | 46 | 0.78% |
| 2024 | 5,030 | 86.03% | 783 | 13.39% | 34 | 0.58% |
At the presidential level, Wayne County was traditionally a fairly independent county or battleground, though in recent years the county has become strongly Republican. PresidentDonald Trump received a record 85% of the vote in 2020, building on his former record of 81% he set, in 2016.Bill Clinton also carried the county both times in1992 and1996, and since that point the county has been solidly Republican to Extremely Republican. Like many rural counties in Missouri and throughout the United States in2008, voters in Wayne County favoredJohn McCain overBarack Obama, and favoredMitt Romney by a significantly larger margin in2012.
In 2004, Missourians voted ona constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman—it overwhelmingly passed Wayne County with 87.75 percent of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71 percent of support from voters as Missouri became the first state to bansame-sex marriage. In 2006, Missourians voted ona constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state—it failed in Wayne County with 55.15 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 approveembryonic stem cell research. Despite Wayne County's longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancingpopulist causes like increasing theminimum 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 Wayne County with 77.36 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 75.94 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.
In the 2008 presidential primary, voters in Wayne County from both political parties supported candidates who finished in second place in the state at large and nationally.
FormerU.S. SenatorHillary Clinton (D-New York) received more votes, a total of 1,458, than any candidate from either party in Wayne County during the 2008 presidential primary. Wayne County was Clinton's second best county in Missouri; her only better result was inDunklin County.
Of all adults 25 years of age and older in Wayne County, 87% possessed ahigh school diploma or higher while 30.3% had abachelor's degree or higher as their highest educational attainment.
Places adjacent to Wayne County, Missouri | |
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Municipalities and communities ofWayne County, Missouri,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Village | ||
| Townships | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
