Caldwell County, Missouri

Caldwell County
County
Caldwell County courthouse in Kingston
Location within the U.S. state of Missouri
Missouri's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 39°40′N 93°59′W / 39.66°N 93.98°W / 39.66; -93.98
Country	United States
State	Missouri
Founded	December 29, 1836
Named for	John Caldwell
Seat	Kingston
Largest city	Hamilton
Area
• Total	430 sq mi (1,100 km2)
• Land	426 sq mi (1,100 km2)
• Water	3.2 sq mi (8 km2)  0.8%
Population  (2020)
• Total	8,815
• Density	21/sq mi (7.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	6th
Website	www.caldwellco.missouri.org

Caldwell County is a county located in Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 8,815. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.^[1] Its county seat is Kingston.^[2] The county was organized December 29, 1836, and named by Alexander Doniphan to honor John Caldwell, who participated in George Rogers Clark's Native American Campaign of 1786 and was the second Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky.

Caldwell County was originally established as a haven for Mormons, who had been driven from Jackson County in November 1833, and had been refugees in adjacent Clay County since. The county was one of the principal settings of the 1838 Missouri Mormon War, which led to the expulsion of all Latter Day Saints from Missouri, following the issuance of an "extermination order" by then–Governor Lilburn Boggs.