Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri

Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri
Ste. Genevieve County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	October 1, 1812
Named for	Saint Genevieve
Seat	Ste. Genevieve
Largest city	Ste. Genevieve
Area
• Total	507 sq mi (1,313 km2)
• Land	499 sq mi (1,292 km2)
• Water	7.6 sq mi (20 km2), 1.5%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	17,919
• Density	36/sq mi (14/km²)
Congressional district	8th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	stegencounty.org

Sainte Genevieve County, often abbreviated Ste. Genevieve County (French: Ste-Geneviève), is a county located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,145. The largest city and county seat is Ste. Genevieve. The county was officially organized on October 1, 1812, and is named after the Spanish district once located in the region, after Saint Genevieve, patroness of Paris, France. It includes the earliest settlement west of the Mississippi River outside of New Spain, part of the French colonial mid-Mississippi valley villages. It is one of the last places where the Paw Paw French is still spoken.

Ste. Genevieve County is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of St. Louis. Ste. Genevieve is the principal town and the county seat of Ste. Genevieve County with a population of around 5,000 people. Ste. Genevieve was the first permanent civilized settlement in Missouri. The actual date of establishment is, like many other dates, connected to genealogy. There is a conflict of opinion as to the exact year depending on the preferred source. The year 1735, according to Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri, and most of the descendants of the early settlers, is the most generally accepted date. Dr. Carl J. Ekberg, in his book, Colonial Ste. Genevieve, is of the opinion that the date of the establishment of Ste. Genevieve is closer to 1750, based on interpretations of early letters, maps, and Catholic Church documents. Regardless of which date one wishes to believe, Ste. Genevieve is about 250 years old.

The village of Ste. Genevieve was originally included in the Illinois Country. This was generally accepted to be all the land claimed by the French from the mouth of the Ohio River, north to the Great Lakes, and including the valleys of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers. The seat of government was established in New Orleans, and what is now Missouri became part of Upper Louisiana Territory. The early French explorers and settlers were known to have been in the Ste. Genevieve area in the very early 18th century.