Formed in 1851 from a portion of Taney County.
STONE COUNTY. This county is in the southwestern part of the State, borders on the Arkansas line, and is generally broken and hilly—better adapted to grazing and fruit growing than for farming. About three-fourths of the county is timber land—ash, hickory, oak, and pine of large size. The tillable land is about equally divided between bottom and upland. Corn, wheat, oats, Hungarian grass, hemp, tobacco, sugar-cane, timothy, cotton, and all kinds of fruit yield well. White River and its numerous tributaries furnish fine water power for manufacturing purposes. Both iron and lead have been found in various localities, and, though the early settlers named the present county-seat "Galena," anticipating the development of an extensive mining region, no systematic mining has yet been done; but recent discoveries indicate this as a rich "mineral" county. Grist-mills, saw-mills, tub and pail factories, and carding-machines, could be profitably established upon the excellent water power on the James Fork of White River, Crane Creek, and Flat Creek. Ten to twelve feet fall can be obtained with a dam of five or six feet—level rock bottom and good banks. (Parker's Missouri as it is in 1867..., 1867)