Lawrence County, Missouri

Lawrence County
County
The Lawrence County Courthouse in Mt. Vernon
Location within the U.S. state of Missouri
Missouri's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 37°07′N 93°50′W / 37.11°N 93.83°W / 37.11; -93.83
Country	United States
State	Missouri
Founded	February 14, 1845
Named for	James Lawrence
Seat	Mount Vernon
Largest city	Monett
Area
• Total	613 sq mi (1,590 km2)
• Land	612 sq mi (1,590 km2)
• Water	1.6 sq mi (4 km2)  0.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	38,001
• Density	62/sq mi (24/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	7th
Website	www.lawrencecountymo.org

Lawrence County is located in the southwest portion of the U.S. state of Missouri, in the area of the Ozarks. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,001.^[1] Its county seat is Mount Vernon.^[2] The county was organized in 1845 and named for James Lawrence, a naval officer from the War of 1812 known for his battle cry, "Don't give up the ship!"^[3]

A previous Lawrence County, established in 1815 with its county seat at what is now Davidsonville Historic State Park in Arkansas, covered much of what is now southern Missouri and the northern third of Arkansas. When the Arkansas Territory was created from Missouri Territory in 1819, some of that earlier county became organized as Lawrence County, Arkansas.^[4]

Just before that, in 1818, Missouri divided its part of the old Lawrence County into Wayne County and Madison County; with population increases, those counties were later divided into others, including the present Lawrence County.