McDonald County, Missouri

McDonald County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 21,681. Its is. The county was organized in and named for Sgt. Alexander McDonald, soldier in the.

McDonald County is part of the.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,398 (540 ). 1,397 km² (540 sq mi) of it is land and 0 km² (0 sq mi) of it (0.04%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 21,681 people, 8,113 households, and 5,865 families residing in the county. The was 16/km² (40/sq mi). There were 9,287 housing units at an average density of 7/km² (17/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.66%, 0.18% or , 2.88% , 0.14% , 0.14% , 3.70% from , and 3.30% from two or more races. 9.36% of the population were or  of any race. 28.0% were of, 11.5% , 10.5% and 6.6%  ancestry according to.

There were 8,113 households out of which 35.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.60% were living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.70% were non-families. 23.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.90% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 11.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 102.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,010, and the median income for a family was $31,530. Males had a median income of $23,434 versus $18,157 for females. The for the county was $13,175. About 15.60% of families and 20.70% of the population were below the, including 28.60% of those under age 18 and 17.20% of those age 65 or over.

School system
The present county school system is the result of consolidations of several county school districts. The first two schools districts to consolidate were the Pineville and Anderson school districts. This was the first step in what was a long range plan to combine all of the remaining high schools in the county with the exception of the Goodman school district which would become a part of the Neosho school system. The plan for the Pineville – Anderson consolidation was approved and the state offered a $50,000 matching grant for the building of a new High school. If the remaining high schools were to join an additional $200,000 in matching grants would be recurred.

The first consolidated class from Pineville and Anderson was the class of 1966. David Alumbaugh was a member of that class and remembers it was the class that elected the school mascot…the mustang and the school colors of red and black. There was not a new high school so each town maintained a high school faculty but all activities including athletics were combined. When asked what the mood of the people in Pineville was concerning the school consolidation, Alumbaugh said “I don’t remember it being a great deal, most people considered it inevitable it was going to happen sooner or later”. It was something that could not be stopped was said by Larry Warner who taught the First year (1966) at the Pineville campus then at the new high school in Anderson its next year. “It was something that was really needed, the faculty at the old Pineville high school was not very good either at the end of their careers or just beginning.” according to Warner. “The kids got along fine at the new school but it was the parents who fought.” stated Warner.

The next school district to consider joining Pineville and Anderson was the Noel school district. Noel Lawmen had a serious concern on where the new high school, which would serve all students, would be located. The proposed site was about a mile east of the city of Anderson at junction of Highway 76 and then new 71. The Noel patrons wanted a site more close to the center of the county which would be just north of the Indian River Bridge at the city of Lanagan. The Noel school board sent a letter to the State Department of Education call for a vote of the people of McDonald County on the site but this didn’t happen. The reasoning for there not being a county-wide vote couldn’t be found, but the proposed new high school site had already been approved by the State Department of Education.

It is interesting to note that once a school district asked to be included in the reorganized district the people of the district asking to be included and the people of the reorganized district both voted. What this means is the people of Pineville and Anderson could vote in other districts even if that other district’s patrons didn’t want to come into the reorganized district, the had to. This led to many of the hard feelings that last even to today in McDonald County about the school consolidation. With the addition of Noel to the reorganization play there were only the high schools of Goodman, Rocky Comfort and Southwest City left. The school district of Goodman decided to join the school district of Neosho. This left Southwest City with its school population of 89 and Rocky Comfort with its high school population of 107 are the only other two schools left in the county. Southwest City located only miles from the Arkansas and Oklahoma borders had no other choice. There were no Missouri schools close to it so it asked and was voted into the reorganized plan. Rocky Comfort is located on the eastern edge of McDonald County and would have been much closer to reorganize with the town of Wheaton in Barry County. Rocky Comfort ended up joining the reorganization of the McDonald County schools.