County: Johnson County
Location of courthouse: 300 N. Holden St., Warrensburg
Location of county: West Central, just one county of western border; crossroads of MO-13, MO-23, MO-131 & MO-2, US-50
Organized: Dec. 13, 1834
Named after: Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky
County seat: Warrensburg
Elevation (highest): 311 meters (1,020 feet)
Population: 53,897 (2017)
"Johnson County was organized by act of the General Assembly, December 13, 1834, out of Lafayette County, which at that time included all of what is now Lafayette, Johnson and Henry Counties, the northwest half of St. Clair, and a narrow strip on the east side of Bates and Cass Counties, about 1,600,000 acres. Johnson County boundaries were as at present...
"The first county court was held at the residence of Mrs. Rachel Houx near Columbus, on April 13, 1835...
"At the second court on May 4, 1835, Richard Hancock was appointed collector for the county, and the county was divided into four townships, Jackson, Washington, Jefferson and Madison.
"In 1835 the county court appointed four commissioners to select a site for the future county seat. A site had been selected but some people who had moved into the county and settled near Shanghai (Cornelia) bitterly opposed the site because it was on one side of the center of the county. The commissioners reconsidered their decision and selected Warrensburg as being as near the center of the county as it was possible to get. The county then bought the land of the owners and laid out the town of Warrensburg, now known as Old Town...
"In the campaign to move the county seat to Centerview, a newspaper was published at Holden to especially promote the move, and on August 14, 1872, the records of the county court show the following: George Washington, Elhanan Roop, and others filed their petition praying the court to submit to the voters at the next general election, November 5, 1872, the proposition "for the removal of the seat of justice of the county of Johnson from the town of Warrensburg to the town of Centerview." It was taken under advisement till 1 P.M. Later in the day "George Washington on behalf of the petitioners withdrew the petition"... " ~ History of Johnson County, 1918, Cockrell, pp. 92-94.