Pemiscot County, Missouri

Pemiscot County, Missouri
Pemiscot County Courthouse in Caruthersville
Location in the U.S. state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 19, 1851
Named for	A Native American word meaning "liquid mud"
Seat	Caruthersville
Largest city	Caruthersville
Area
• Total	513 sq mi (1,329 km2)
• Land	493 sq mi (1,277 km2)
• Water	21 sq mi (54 km2), 4.1%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	17,482
• Density	37/sq mi (14/km²)
Congressional district	8th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Pemiscot County is a county located in the southeastern corner in the Bootheel in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,296. The largest city and county seat is Caruthersville. The county was officially organized on February 19, 1851, and is named for the local bayou, taken from the Fox dialect word, pem-eskaw, meaning "liquid mud". Bordering the Mississippi River and floodplain, the county has been devoted to agricultural development and commodity crops. With mechanization of agriculture, its population has declined since a peak in 1940.

Murphy Mound Archeological Site has one of the largest platform mounds in Missouri; it is a major earthwork of the Late Mississippian culture, which had settlement sites throughout the Mississippi Valley and tributaries. The site is privately owned and is not open to the public. The site may have been occupied from as early as 1200 CE and continuing to about 1541.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 513 square miles (1,330 km²), of which 493 square miles (1,280 km²) is land and 21 square miles (54 km²) (4.1%) is water. Fishing is a popular activity among residents in the area.

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,047 people, 7,855 households, and 5,317 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 people per square mile (16/km²). There were 8,793 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.76% White, 26.23% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. Approximately 1.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Among the major first ancestries reported in Pemiscot County were 31.9% American, 7.8% Irish, 5.6% English, and 5.5% German ancestry.