BY BARBARA BOOTH
The Stone County Historical Genealogical Society & Museum will feature a brief history of Stone County this week.
The Delaware Indians immigrated to the region in about 1800-1808 and remained until their evacuation under government orders in 1830 to the Kansas Territory.
Stone County was officially formed in February of 1851 out of parts of Taney County. It was named after William Stone, a veteran of the War of 1812.
James Town was named the county seat. It was later renamed Galena, due to the natural lead deposits in the area. The county seat Galena is located on the right bank of the James River.
The people of Stone County had suffered great inconvenience from refusal of the judge of the judicial circuit to hold court in Stone County. So, with the enactment by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri in 1857 to officially approve the organization of Stone County, court could then be held.
In 1858 the county court set apart $400 from sales of town lots for the purpose of erecting a county jail. In 1859 they let out bids for the building of a jail. By the year 1860 Stone County had their first jail.
Stone County had a very small slave population consisting of 16 slaves recorded in the 1860 census.
On August 2, 1861, Confederate Troops passed through Stone County on their way to Wilson's Creek, with a skirmish taking place as they traveled along the "Wire Road," originally called "Old Wilderness Road," which was completed in the early 1860s for the purpose of running telegraph lines.
In 1904 the White River Railway extended into Stone County. The railway continued into Taney County before entering Arkansas.
Stone County, located in the southwestern part of the State of Missouri, is bounded north by Christian County, east by Christian and Taney counties, south by Arkansas and west by Barry and Lawrence counties.
The county contains 339,200 acres. The population in 1860 was 2,400. Population of Stone County in 2023 according to census data was 32,658.
Stone County has gone through many changes throughout its history. Huge changes took place with the building of Table Rock Dam for power and the development of Table Rock Lake. The lake is approximately 52 miles long and has nearly 800 miles of shoreline, covering 52,300 acres with the deepest part of the lake approximately 220 feet.
The county is known throughout for our beautiful hill country, tourist attractions, James River for floating and fishing, our beautiful caves for touring, and is the proud home of Silver Dollar City and Dogwood Canyon.
The county is diverse excelling in agri-business with beef production and poultry production of turkeys and broiler chickens being raised in computerized farms on extremely large scale.
For more history and research, visit your county Historical Museum located at lower end of Main Street in Crane.
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