Boonville, Missouri

City: Boonville

County: Cooper

State: Missouri

Lat/Long: 38.9667, -92.7333

Boonville is the county seat of Cooper County. Sons of Daniel Boone established a salt business in the area in the early 1800s, and the first settlers arrived in 1810. Skirmishes during the War of 1812 delayed the town's formal creation, but it was officially laid out in 1817 and became county seat in 1818. Because of its location on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, Boonville was a strategic target for both the Confederacy and the Union during the Civil War. On June 17, 1861, a Union force defeated a small force of Missouri State Guard in the first Battle of Boonville, giving the Union what would become unbroken control of the Missouri River. In September 1861 and October 1863, Union and Confederate forces also fought over Boonville. In October 1864, Sterling Price's Army of the Missouri occupied Boonville, leading to a fourth battle; Price repulsed the Union forces, but abandoned the town shortly thereafter.

W. F. Johnson, History of Cooper County Missouri (Topeka, KS and Cleveland, OH: Historical Publishing, 1919), 52-69, 155, 185-202, 219.