Gentry County, Missouri

Gentry County, Missouri

Gentry County Courthouse in Albany
Map of Missouri highlighting Gentry County
Location in the U.S. state of Missouri
Map of the United States highlighting Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded February 14, 1841
Named for Richard Gentry
Seat Albany
Largest city Albany
Area
  Total 492 sq mi (1,274 km2)
  Land 491 sq mi (1,272 km2)
  Water 0.3 sq mi (1 km2), 0.06%
Population (est.)
  (2015) 6,692
  Density 14/sq mi (5/km²)
Congressional district 6th
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website gentrycounty.net

Gentry County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,738.[1] Its county seat is Albany.[2] The county was organized February 14, 1841[3] and named for Colonel Richard Gentry[4] of Boone County who fell in the Seminole War in 1837.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 492 square miles (1,270 km2), of which 491 square miles (1,270 km2) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) (0.06%) is water.[5]

Adjacent counties

Major highways

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
18504,248
186011,862179.2%
187011,607−2.1%
188017,17648.0%
189019,01810.7%
190020,5548.1%
191016,820−18.2%
192015,634−7.1%
193014,348−8.2%
194013,359−6.9%
195011,036−17.4%
19608,793−20.3%
19708,060−8.3%
19807,887−2.1%
19906,848−13.2%
20006,8610.2%
20106,738−1.8%
Est. 20156,692[6]−0.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]
1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9]
1990-2000[10] 2010-2015[1]

As of the census[11] of 2010, there were 6,738 people, 2,674 households, and 1,789 families residing in the county. The population density was 14 people per square mile (5/km²). There were 3,209 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.38% White, 0.31% Black or African American, 0.27% Asian, 0.19% Native American, 0.16% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. 0.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,674 households, of which 29.06% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.42% were married couples living together, 8.23% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.10% were non-families. 29.02% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.07% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.55% under the age of 18, 7.85% from 18 to 24, 20.67% from 25 to 44, 26.43% from 45 to 64, and 20.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.4 years. For every 100 females there were 93.62 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.43 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,556, and the median income for a family was $46,458. Males had a median income of $33,558 versus $25,815 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,021. About 9.30% of families and 14.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.40% of those under age 18 and 15.00% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives County Membership Report (2010), Gentry County is sometimes regarded as being on the northern edge of the Bible Belt, with evangelical Protestantism being the most predominant religion. The most predominant denominations among residents in Gentry County who adhere to a religion are Southern Baptists (46.29%), United Methodists (18.20%), and Disciples of Christ (13.12%).

Education

Public schools

Politics

Local

The Democratic Party controls politics at the local level in Gentry County. Democrats hold all but three of the elected positions in the county.

Gentry County, Missouri
Elected countywide officials
Assessor Sheryl Coburn Democratic
Circuit Clerk Janet Parsons Republican
County Clerk Carol Reidlinger Democratic
Collector Linda Combs Democratic
Commissioner
(Presiding)
Rod Dollars Republican
Commissioner
(District 1)
Larry B. Wilson Democratic
Commissioner
(District 2)
Gary Carlson Republican
Coroner Andrew E. Lindner Republican
Prosecuting Attorney Jeromy Y. Biggs,Jr. Democratic
Public Administrator Joy L. Novak Democratic
Recorder Janet Parsons Republican
Sheriff Tim Davis Democratic
Surveyor John Dole Democratic
Treasurer Linda Combs Democratic

State

Past Gubernatorial Elections Results
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2012 47.92% 1,429 48.89% 1,458 3.19% 95
2008 42.98% 1,400 54.16% 1,764 2.86% 93
2004 57.61% 1,901 41.03% 1,354 1.36% 45
2000 49.24% 1,522 49.27% 1,523 2.12% 46
1996 29.67% 981 68.75% 2,273 1.57% 52

Gentry County is part of the 2nd district in the Missouri House of Representatives, currently held by J. Eggleston (R-Maysville).

Missouri House of Representatives — District 2 — Gentry County (2014)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican J. Eggleston 844 52.68
Democratic Mike Waltemath 758 47.32

Gentry County is a part of Missouri’s 12th District in the Missouri Senate and is currently represented by Dan Hegeman (R-Cosby).

Missouri Senate - District 12 – Gentry County (2010)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Dan Hegeman 1,322 100.00

Federal

U.S. Senate — Missouri — Gentry County (2012)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Todd Akin 1,235 41.58
Democratic Claire McCaskill 1,463 49.26
Libertarian Jonathan Dine 272 9.16

Gentry County is included in Missouri’s 6th Congressional District and is currently represented by Sam Graves (R-Tarkio) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. House of Representatives — Missouri’s 6th Congressional District — Gentry County (2014)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Sam Graves 1,098 69.41
Democratic Bill Hedge 397 25.09
Libertarian Russ Lee Monchil 87 5.50

Political culture

Past Presidential Elections Results
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2012 66.29% 1,988 31.24% 937 2.47% 74
2008 59.66% 1,964 37.52% 1,235 2.82% 93
2004 62.95% 2,085 36.26% 1,201 0.79% 26
2000 57.04% 1,771 40.93% 1,271 2.03% 63
1996 41.36% 1,361 45.37% 1,493 13.28% 437

At the presidential level, Gentry County is Republican-leaning. George W. Bush carried the county easily in 2000 and 2004. Bill Clinton was the last Democratic presidential nominee to carry Gentry County in 1996, and like many of the rural counties throughout Missouri, Gentry County strongly favored John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008.

Like most rural areas throughout northwest Missouri, voters in Gentry County generally adhere to socially and culturally conservative principles which tend to influence their Republican leanings. In 2004, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman—it overwhelmingly won in Gentry County with 79.9% of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71% support from voters. In 2006, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state—it failed in Gentry County with 58.3% voting against the measure. The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51% of support from voters as Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve embryonic stem cell research. Despite Gentry County's longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing populist causes like increasing the minimum wage. In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Gentry County with 63.3% of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 78.99% voting in favor. (During the same election, voters in five other states also strongly approved increases in the minimum wage.)

Missouri Presidential Preference Primaries

2012

In the 2012 Missouri Republican Presidential Primary, voters in Gentry County supported former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), who finished first in the state at large, but eventually lost the nomination to former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts). Delegates to the state convention were chosen at a county caucus, which selected a delegation favoring Santorum.

2008

Gentry County, Missouri
2008 Republican primary in Missouri
John McCain 217 (36.90%)
Mike Huckabee 182 (30.95%)
Mitt Romney 155 (26.36%)
Ron Paul 23 (3.91%)
Gentry County, Missouri
2008 Democratic primary in Missouri
Hillary Clinton 409 (53.32%)
Barack Obama 312 (40.68%)
John Edwards (withdrawn) 38 (4.95%)

Cities and towns

Miscellaneous

On March 5, 2010, a jury awarded seven neighboring farmers $11 million in damages from Premium Standard Farms over odors emanating from an hog farm of 4,300 acres (17 km2) that processes 200,000 hogs near Berlin in Gentry County - the largest such award in history.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. Eaton, David Wolfe (1916). How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named. The State Historical Society of Missouri. p. 169.
  4. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 136.
  5. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  6. "County Totals Dataset: Population, Population Change and Estimated Components of Population Change: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  7. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  8. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  9. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  10. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  11. "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on September 11, 2013. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  12. Hog farm operators ordered to pay $11M for odor - St. Louis Bizjournal - March 5, 2010

Coordinates: 40°13′N 94°25′W / 40.22°N 94.41°W / 40.22; -94.41

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