Putnam County, Missouri

Putnam County
County
Putnam County Courthouse in Unionville
Location within the U.S. state of Missouri
Missouri's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 40°29′N 93°01′W / 40.48°N 93.02°W / 40.48; -93.02
Country	United States
State	Missouri
Founded	February 28, 1845
Named for	Israel Putnam
Seat	Unionville
Largest city	Unionville
Area
• Total	520 sq mi (1,300 km2)
• Land	517 sq mi (1,340 km2)
• Water	2.3 sq mi (6 km2)  0.4%
Population  (2020)
• Total	4,681
• Density	9.0/sq mi (3.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	6th
Website	nemr.net/~putco/

Putnam County is a county in north central Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,681.^[1] Its county seat is Unionville.^[2] The county was organized February 28, 1845, and named for Israel Putnam, a hero in the French and Indian War and a general in the American Revolutionary War.^[3]

Putnam County was established February 28, 1845, from parts of Adair and Sullivan counties. The following year a portion of Putnam was removed to form Dodge County. Both Putnam and Dodge extended nearly nine miles further north until an 1851 ruling by the Supreme Court on a border dispute with Iowa assigned the contested land to Iowa. Both counties were left with less than the statutory minimum area for a county as set by the state legislature, so Dodge County was dissolved and its area added to Putnam.^[4]

In its early years, the county seat changed frequently, often with contentious debate. Putnamville, Bryant Station (both no longer in existence), and Hartford all served until a central location called Harmony, later renamed Unionville, was chosen.^[5]

In the 1860 U.S. Census Putnam County had 9,240 residents, with eighteen sawmills and three flour mills.^[6] Coal had been an abundant since its earliest settlement. Following the arrival of the Burlington & Southwestern Railway in 1873, coal mining became a major industry, especially in the east of the county. At one time three railroads crossed Putnam county: the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul; the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy; and the Iowa and St. Louis.^[7] Putnam County lost over two-thirds of its population between the years 1900 and 2000 (see census data below), when the United States changed from a rural to an urban country.