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Clay County, Missouri

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Clay County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 253,335,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> making it the fifth-most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Liberty.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> The county was organized January 2, 1822, and named in honor of U.S. Representative Henry Clay from Kentucky, later a member of the United States Senate and United States Secretary of State.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Clay County contains many of the area's northern suburbs, along with a substantial portion of the city of Kansas City, Missouri. It also owns and operates the Midwest National Air Center in Excelsior Springs.

History

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Clay County was settled primarily from migrants from the Upper Southern states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. They brought slaves and slaveholding traditions with them, and quickly started cultivating crops similar to those in Middle Tennessee and Kentucky: hemp and tobacco. Clay was one of several counties settled mostly by Southerners to the north and south of the Missouri River. Given their culture and traditions, this area became known as Little Dixie. In 1860, enslaved persons made up 25% or more of the county's population.<ref>T. J. Stiles, Jesse James: The Last Rebel of the Civil War, New York: Vintage Books, 2003, pp.10-11</ref>

The 1828 execution of Annice, a slave owned by Jeremiah Prior, was the first to occur in Clay County.<ref>"In 1828 a slave woman named Annice drowned two of her small children in a stream; she was put upon trial, convicted, and was hung in Liberty, August 23rd following, this being the first legal execution in the county." County History: Clay County, Missouri. Retrieved November 23, 2017.</ref> She was also the first female slave executed in the state of Missouri.<ref name=f1>Template:Cite book</ref>

Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints found refuge in Clay County in November 1833 after they were driven from Jackson County, Missouri. In 1836, mobs and the Missouri State militia viciously drove the members of the church from the county.<ref>Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 144-145</ref> Leaders of this church, most notably Joseph Smith, were imprisoned for some months in Clay County in the jail at Liberty. In May 2012, the LDS Church built the Kansas City Missouri Temple six miles southwest of the Liberty Jail site at 7001 Searcy Creek Parkway in Kansas City, Missouri.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (2.8%) is covered by water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> It is the fourth-smallest county in Missouri by area.

Adjacent counties

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Major highways

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Demographics

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As of the census<ref name="GR8">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2010, 221,939 people, 72,558 households, and 50,137 families resided in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. The 93,918 housing units averaged Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 87.46% White, 5.18% Black or African American, 0.53% Native American, 2.05% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 1.77% from other races, and 2.75% from two or more races. About 5.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, 23.3% were of German, 14.5% American, 11.0% English, 10.8% Irish, and 5.6% Italian ancestry.

Of the 72,558 households, 33.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.40% were married couples living together, 10.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.90% were not families. About 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county, the population was distributed as 25.80% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 32.30% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 10.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.80 males.

In 2015 the median income for a household in Clay County was $62,099. The income per capita in Clay county was $29,793. <ref>https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/claycountymissouri/PST045216 Template:Dead link</ref>

In 2010 the median income for a household in the county was $48,347, and for a family was $56,772. Males had a median income of $40,148 versus $27,681 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,144. About 3.80% of families and 5.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.40% of those under age 18 and 5.50% of those age 65 or over.

Registered voters number 151,042.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2020 Census

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Clay County Racial Composition<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Race Num. Perc.
White (NH) 193,282 76.3%
Black or African American (NH) 17,853 7.04%
Native American (NH) 1,009 0.4%
Asian (NH) 6,059 2.4%
Pacific Islander (NH) 1,004 0.4%
Other/Mixed (NH) 15,278 6.03%
Hispanic or Latino 18,850 7.44%

Education

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School districts include:<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>

K-12:

Elementary-only district:

Public schools

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  • Excelsior Springs School District No. 40 – Excelsior Springs
    • Lewis Elementary School (PK–5)
    • Cornerstone Elementary School (K–5)
    • Elkhorn Elementary School (K-5)
    • Excelsior Springs Middle School (6–8)
    • Excelsior Springs High School (9–12)
    • Excelsior Springs Technical High School (12) – Alternative/Technical School
  • Kearney R-I School District – Kearney
    • Dogwood Elementary School (K–5)
    • Hawthorne Elementary School (K–5)
    • Kearney Elementary School (K–5)
    • Southview Elementary School (K–5)
    • Kearney Middle School (6–7)
    • Kearney Junior High School (8–9)
    • Kearney High School (10–12)
  • Liberty School District No. 53 – Liberty
    • Liberty Early Childhood Education Center (PreK)
    • Alexander Doniphan Elementary School (K–5)
    • Franklin Elementary School (K–5)
    • Kellybrook Elementary School (K–5) – Kansas City
    • Lewis & Clark Elementary School (K–5)
    • Liberty Oaks Elementary School (K–5) – Kansas City
    • Lillian Schumacher Elementary School (K–5)
    • Manor Hill Elementary School (K–5)
    • Ridgeview Elementary School (K–5)
    • Shoal Creek Elementary School (K–5)
    • Warren Hills Elementary School (K–5)
    • Liberty Middle School (6–8)
    • South Valley Middle School (6–8)
    • Heritage Middle School (6–8)
    • Discovery Middle School (6–8)
    • Liberty High School (9–12)
    • Liberty North High School (9–12)
  • Missouri City School District No. 56 – Missouri City
    • Missouri City Elementary School (K–8)
  • North Kansas City School District No. 74 – North Kansas City
    • Bell Prairie Elementary School (K–5)
    • Briarcliff Elementary School (K–5)
    • Chapel Hill Elementary School (K–5)
    • Chouteu Elementary School (Pre-K–5)
    • Clardy Elementary School (2–5)
    • Crestview Elementary School (K–5)
    • Davidson Elementary School (Pre-K–5)
    • Fox Hill Elementary School (K–5)
    • Gashland Elementary School (K–1)
    • Gracemor Elementary School (Pre-K–5)
    • Lakewood Elementary School (Pre-K–5)
    • Linden West Elementary School (K–5) – Gladstone
    • Maplewood Elementary School (K–5)
    • Meadowbrook Elementary School (K–5)
    • Nashua Elementary School (K–5)
    • Northview Elementary School (K–5)
    • Oakwood Manor Elementary School (K–5)
    • Ravenwood Elementary School (K–5)
    • Rising Hill Elementary School (K-5)
    • Topping Elementary School (K–5)
    • West Englewood Elementary School (Pre-K–5)
    • Winnwood Elementary School (Pre-K–5)
    • Antioch Middle School (6–8)
    • Eastgate 6th Grade Center (6)
    • Gateway 6th Grade Center (6)
    • Maple Park Middle School (6–8)
    • New Mark Middle School (6–8)
    • Northgate Middle School (6–8)
    • North Kansas City High School (9–12)
    • Oak Park High School (Kansas City) (9–12)
    • Staley High School (9–12)
    • Winnetonka High School (9–12)
  • Smithville R-II School District – Smithville
    • Smithville Maple Elementary School (Pre-K–6)
    • Smithville Horizon Elementary School (Pre-K-6)
    • Smithville Eagle Heights Elementary School (Pre-K-6)
    • Smithville Middle School (7–8)
    • Smithville High School (9–12)

Private schools

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Postsecondary

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  • Maple Woods :: Metropolitan Community College—Kansas City—A public, two-year Liberal Arts college
  • William Jewell College – Liberty – A private, four-year Liberal Arts college.

Libraries, archives, museums

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Libraries

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Archives

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  • Clay County Archives

Museums

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  • Clay County Museum
  • Jesse James Bank Museum

Communities

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Cities and towns

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Unincorporated communities

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Notable people

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Politics

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Clay County, like the rest of Missouri, has swung to the Republican Party in the 21st century, though the margins have been very close. In 2000, Al Gore famously won the county by one vote. The county, holding Kansas City, is mainly suburban in culture and remains competitive. In 2016, Donald Trump won the county while Hillary Clinton failed to improve on Barack Obama's percentages with only 41% of the vote. Joe Biden, however, did improve on those margins, winning nearly 47% of the vote in 2020; Trump still carried the county by 4%.

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See also

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References

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Further reading

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  • Woodson, W.H. History of Clay County, Missouri (1920) online
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