Annotations

WASHINGTON COUNTY, situated in the east part of Missouri. Area, 820 square miles. Face of the country, mountainous; soil, varied. Seat of justice, Potosi. Pop. in 1830, 6,784; in 1840, 7,231; in 1850, 8,811. (Fanning's, 1853)

WASHINGTON, a county in the E. S. E. part of Missouri, has an area of 1000 square miles. The Maramec river washes its N. W. border. The Big river rises in the county, and forms part of the N. E. boundary ; it is also drained by the head streams of the Big Black river, and by Courtois and Indian creeks. The surface is generally hilly and broken, and covered with forests. Indian corn, wheat, oats, hay, and butter are the staples of agriculture. In 1850 the county produced 334,348 bushels of corn ; 30,279 of wheat; 79,112 of oats, and 69,639 pounds of butter. It contained 10 churches, and 400 pupils attending public schools. The county is chiefly remarkable for its mineral resources. Iron and lead are the most abundant. The Iron mountain, on the S. E. border, is described as "literally a mountain of magnetic iron ore," rising about 300 feet above the plain, and measuring a mile and a half across the summit. Numerous lead mines have been opened near Potosi. Silver, copper, plumbago, copperas, chalk, and limestone are also found. A railroad is progressing from St. Louis to the Iron mountain. Capital, Potosi. Population, 8811, of whom 7736 were free, and 1075, slaves.  (Baldwin & Thomas, A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States ... 1854)

Total Population 1840
7213
Total Population 1850
8811
Total Population 1860
9723
Free Black Population 1860
25
Free Black Population 1850
23
Free Black Population 1840
42
Enslaved Population 1860
1028
Enslaved Population 1850
1075
Enslaved Population 1840
923
Presidential Election Result 1840
Democrat
Presidential Election Result 1848
Whig
Presidential Election Result 1852
Whig
Presidential Election Result 1856
Democrat
Presidential Election Result 1860
Douglas Democrat
Presidential Election Result 1864
Unconditional Union (1864)
Latitude
37.942315
Longitude
-90.897056
Waterways
No
Type
County
County
Washington
State
Missouri