1<!DOCTYPE html> 2<html lang="en"> 3<head> 4 <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> 5 <!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
vendor: 68 bytes, lines 5-6
5 6 <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=
6G-1ZGWFDXQG1
vendor: 16 bytes, lines 6-7
6"></script> 7
7<script> 8
vendor: 151 bytes, lines 8-11
8window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; 9 function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} 10 gtag('js', new Date()); 11 gtag('config', '
11G-1ZGWFDXQG1
vendor: 8 bytes, lines 11-12
11'); 12
12</script>
12 13 <title>History â Randolph County, Missouri</title> 14 <meta name="description" content="Randolph County was organized on January 22, 1829. Its history in dates and photographs â the railroad, the coal, the Junior College, and the people who lived here."> 15 <link rel="canonical" href="https://randolphcounty-mo.com/history"> 16 17 <meta property="og:site_name" content="Randolph County, Missouri"> 18 <meta property="og:type" content="website"> 19 <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"> 20 <meta property="og:title" content="History â Randolph County, Missouri"> 21 <meta property="og:description" content="Randolph County was organized on January 22, 1829. Its history in dates and photographs â the railroad, the coal, the Junior College, and the people who lived here."> 22 <meta property="og:url" content="https://randolphcounty-mo.com/history"> 23 <meta property="og:image" content="https://cdn.csdurant.com/templates/randolphcounty-mo.com/img/courthouse.jpg"> 24 <meta property="og:image:alt" content="The Randolph County Courthouse in Huntsville, Missouri"> 25 <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"> 26 <meta name="twitter:title" content="History â Randolph County, Missouri"> 27 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Randolph County was organized on January 22, 1829. Its history in dates and photographs â the railroad, the coal, the Junior College, and the people who lived here."> 28 <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://cdn.csdurant.com/templates/randolphcounty-mo.com/img/courthouse.jpg"> 29 30
30<script type="application/ld+json"> 31 { 32 "@context": "https://schema.org", 33 "@type": "GovernmentOffice", 34 "name": "Randolph County, Missouri", 35 "url": "https://randolphcounty-mo.com/", 36 "foundingDate": "1829-01-22", 37 "image": "https://cdn.csdurant.com/templates/randolphcounty-mo.com/img/courthouse.jpg", 38 "logo": "https://cdn.csdurant.com/templates/randolphcounty-mo.com/img/logo-small.png", 39 "telephone": "+1-844-277-6555", 40 "address": { 41 "@type": "PostalAddress", 42 "streetAddress": "372 Hwy. JJ", 43 "addressLocality": "Huntsville", 44 "addressRegion": "MO", 45 "postalCode": "65259", 46 "addressCountry": "US" 47 }, 48 "areaServed": { 49 "@type": "AdministrativeArea", 50 "name": "Randolph County, Missouri" 51 }, 52 "openingHoursSpecification": { 53 "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", 54 "dayOfWeek": [ 55 "Monday", 56 "Tuesday", 57 "Wednesday", 58 "Thursday", 59 "Friday" 60 ], 61 "opens": "08:00", 62 "closes": "16:00" 63 } 64} </script>
64 65 <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="any"> 66 <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://cdn.csdurant.com/templates/randolphcounty-mo.com/img/logo-small.png"> 67 <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://cdn.csdurant.com/templates/randolphcounty-mo.com/img/logo-small.png"> 68 <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.csdurant.com/lib/choices/choices.css"> 69 <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.csdurant.com/templates/randolphcounty-mo.com/fonts/zilla-slab.css"> 70 71 <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/normalize.min.css?1785982517"> 72 <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/fonts.css?1785982517"> 73 <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/county.css?1785982517"> 74 </head> 75<body> 76<a class="skip-link" href="#main-content">Skip to main content</a> 77 78 79<header class="site-header" id="site-header"> 80 <div class="site-header__inner"> 81 <a class="site-brand" href="/"> 82 <img class="site-brand__logo" src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/templates/randolphcounty-mo.com/img/logo.png" alt="" width="208" height="160"> 83 <span class="site-brand__text"> 84 <span class="site-brand__name">Randolph County</span> 85 <span class="site-brand__state">Missouri · Est. 1829</span> 86 </span> 87 </a> 88 <button class="nav-toggle" type="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="site-nav"> 89 <span class="nav-toggle__bars" aria-hidden="true"></span> 90 Menu 91 </button> 92 <nav id="site-nav" class="site-nav" aria-label="Main navigation"> 93 <ul> 94 <li> 95 <a href="/departments">Departments</a> 96 </li> 97 <li> 98 <a href="/ordinances">Ordinances</a> 99 </li> 100 <li> 101 <a href="/history" aria-current="page">History</a> 102 </li> 103 <li> 104 <a href="/community">Community</a> 105 </li> 106 <li> 107 <a href="/contact">Contact</a> 108 </li> 109 </ul> 110 </nav> 111 </div> 112</header> 113 114<main id="main-content" class="site-main"> 115 <div class="page page--narrow"> 116 <h1>History</h1> 117 <p>Randolph County was organized on <strong>January 22, 1829</strong> and named for John Randolph of Roanoke. The courthouse has stood at Huntsville ever since.</p><p>What made the county was the railroad and what was under the ground. Moberly grew from nothing into the <em>Magic City</em> in a decade of railroad boom, while coal came up out of drift mines and, later, strip pits across the countryside. The county sent Omar Bradley to West Point and the world, opened one of Missouriâs early junior colleges, and has farmed this ground the whole time.</p> 118 <h2>A county in dates</h2> 119 <ol class="chronology"> 120 <li class="chronology__entry"> 121 <span class="chronology__year">1829</span> 122 <span class="chronology__event">Randolph County is organized on January 22 and named for John Randolph of Roanoke, the Virginia congressman and senator. Huntsville becomes the county seat.</span> 123 </li> 124 <li class="chronology__entry"> 125 <span class="chronology__year">1830s</span> 126 <span class="chronology__event">Settlers arrive from Kentucky and Tennessee, bringing slavery with them and planting hemp and tobacco. The county sits at the heart of the region Missourians came to call Little Dixie.</span> 127 </li> 128 <li class="chronology__entry"> 129 <span class="chronology__year">1866</span> 130 <span class="chronology__event">Moberly is platted by the North Missouri Railroad and named for Colonel William E. Moberly, the first president of the Chariton and Randolph County railroads.</span> 131 </li> 132 <li class="chronology__entry">
133 <span class="chronology__year">1872</span> 134 <span class="chronology__event">The railroad opens huge repair shops at Moberly â among the earliest railroad plants west of the Mississippi. The town grows so fast it earns the name the Magic City.</span> 135 </li> 136 <li class="chronology__entry"> 137 <span class="chronology__year">1880</span> 138 <span class="chronology__event">Moberly counts 6,070 residents. Coal is the county's other pillar: drift mines worked since mid-century, and strip mining by the 1920s.</span> 139 </li> 140 <li class="chronology__entry"> 141 <span class="chronology__year">1893</span> 142 <span class="chronology__event">Omar Nelson Bradley is born near Clark on February 12. He will become the last of the nine five-star generals in American history.</span> 143 </li> 144 <li class="chronology__entry"> 145 <span class="chronology__year">1927</span> 146 <span class="chronology__event">Moberly Junior College opens as part of the Moberly public schools. It is now Moberly Area Community College.</span> 147 </li> 148 <li class="chronology__entry"> 149 <span class="chronology__year">Today</span> 150 <span class="chronology__event">The 2020 census counts 24,716 residents across 488 square miles â half of us in town, half of us out on the land.</span> 151 </li> 152 </ol> 153 154 <h2>From the county’s albums</h2> 155 <p>Photographs kept by the county and lent by residents. If you can name a face, a place, or a 156 year we have wrong, the <a href="/departments/county-clerk">County Clerk</a> would like to 157 hear from you. For the fuller record â the museum, the genealogical archives, and the 158 railroad museum â see the 159 <a href="https://www.randolphhistorymo.com/" rel="noopener">Randolph County Historical 160 Society</a> in Moberly.</p> 161 162 <ul class="album"> 163 <li> 164 <figure> 165 <img 166 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/f48210fa-1094-4eb7-ac63-7b06984c94f0/football-team-1931.jpg" 167 alt="" 168 width="1920" height="980" loading="lazy" 169 decoding="async"> 170 <figcaption>The football team, 1931.</figcaption> 171 </figure> 172 </li> 173 <li> 174 <figure> 175 <img 176 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/5ecd29ac-4819-4818-a3a1-5768d435e16a/aerial-view-1932.jpg" 177 alt="" 178 width="1920" height="1154" loading="lazy" 179 decoding="async"> 180 <figcaption>Moberly from the air, 1932. Recorded as a St. Louis Post-Dispatch photograph.</figcaption> 181 </figure> 182 </li> 183 <li> 184 <figure> 185 <img 186 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/b8e2ce2d-4568-40a9-a107-55fa0238ceb9/victory-parade-historic.jpg" 187 alt="" 188 width="1920" height="1280" loading="lazy" 189 decoding="async"> 190 <figcaption>A âRecipe for Victoryâ float on a brick street during the Second World War.</figcaption> 191 </figure> 192 </li> 193 <li> 194 <figure> 195 <img 196 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/7a11bc6e-cf66-47a4-9212-28417c86bd2f/football-team-early.jpg" 197 alt="" 198 width="1920" height="1169" loading="lazy" 199 decoding="async">
200 <figcaption>An early football squad, in the leather helmets of the day. Date unrecorded.</figcaption> 201 </figure> 202 </li> 203 <li> 204 <figure> 205 <img 206 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/e6b4bdae-60bd-4215-aaab-734dfaf79908/junior-college-1940s.jpg" 207 alt="" 208 width="1920" height="1563" loading="lazy" 209 decoding="async"> 210 <figcaption>The Junior College building, with the cars of the 1940s parked out front.</figcaption> 211 </figure> 212 </li> 213 <li> 214 <figure> 215 <img 216 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/c5637a15-493b-4f69-84b3-050a4f87e536/football-team-1936.jpg" 217 alt="" 218 width="1920" height="1518" loading="lazy" 219 decoding="async"> 220 <figcaption>The football team, about 1936â37.</figcaption> 221 </figure> 222 </li> 223 <li> 224 <figure> 225 <img 226 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/af1902fd-5962-4768-908c-27a91358732a/junior-college-historic.jpg" 227 alt="" 228 width="1904" height="1920" loading="lazy" 229 decoding="async"> 230 <figcaption>The Junior College campus and its running track from the air. Date unrecorded.</figcaption> 231 </figure> 232 </li> 233 <li> 234 <figure> 235 <img 236 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/720c9cd8-0fe4-4048-a30e-1662c8313b82/staircase-1928.jpg" 237 alt="" 238 width="1424" height="1920" loading="lazy" 239 decoding="async"> 240 <figcaption>On the staircase, 1928 â recorded in the county's albums as the Piggly Wiggly.</figcaption> 241 </figure> 242 </li> 243 <li class="album__wide"> 244 <figure> 245 <img 246 src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/media/randolphcounty-mo.com/history_photos/de40fc49-dc06-4f63-98cd-27e8c50f0acd/historic-football-clipping.jpg" 247 alt="" 248 width="1920" height="571" loading="lazy" 249 decoding="async"> 250 <figcaption>A newspaper clipping naming the whole squad of the Moberly Junior College team â every player, row by row.</figcaption> 251 </figure> 252 </li> 253 </ul> 254 255 <h2>The county today</h2> 256 <p>Randolph County covers 488 square miles and is divided into twelve townships. Its cities are 257 <strong>Huntsville</strong> (the county seat), <strong>Moberly</strong> (the largest), 258 <strong>Clark</strong>, <strong>Clifton Hill</strong>, and <strong>Higbee</strong>, with the 259 villages of <strong>Cairo</strong>, <strong>Jacksonville</strong>, and <strong>Renick</strong>. 260 We border Macon, Monroe, Shelby, Audrain, Boone, Howard, and Chariton counties.</p> 261</div> 262</main> 263 264<footer class="site-footer"> 265 <div class="site-footer__inner"> 266 <div class="site-footer__col"> 267 <h2 class="site-footer__heading">Randolph County Courthouse</h2> 268 <address> 269 372 Hwy. JJ<br> 270 Huntsville, MO 65259<br> 271 Toll Free: <a href="tel:+18442776555">844-277-6555</a> 272 </address> 273 </div>
274 <div class="site-footer__col"> 275 <h2 class="site-footer__heading">Quick Links</h2> 276 <ul> 277 <li><a href="/departments">County Departments</a></li> 278 <li><a href="/departments/county-commission">Commission Agendas</a></li> 279 <li><a href="/ordinances">County Ordinances</a></li> 280 <li><a href="https://randolph-county-mo.myfreealerts.com/" rel="noopener">Civic Ready Emergency Alerts</a></li> 281 </ul> 282 </div> 283 <div class="site-footer__col"> 284 <h2 class="site-footer__heading">Website</h2> 285 <ul> 286 <li><a href="/community">Community Resources</a></li> 287 <li><a href="/contact">Contact & Holiday Schedule</a></li> 288 </ul> 289 </div> 290 </div> 291 <div class="site-footer__bar"> 292 <p class="site-footer__copy">© 2026 Randolph County, Missouri</p> 293 <nav class="site-footer__legal" aria-label="Legal and site information"> 294 <a href="/accessibility">Accessibility</a> 295 <span aria-hidden="true">|</span> 296 <a href="/privacy">Privacy</a> 297 <span aria-hidden="true">|</span> 298 <a href="/sitemap">Sitemap</a> 299 </nav> 300 </div> 301</footer> 302
303<script> 304(function () { 305 var btn = document.querySelector('.nav-toggle'); 306 var nav = document.getElementById('site-nav'); 307 if (btn && nav) { 308 btn.addEventListener('click', function () { 309 var open = nav.classList.toggle('is-open'); 310 btn.setAttribute('aria-expanded', String(open)); 311 }); 312 } 313 314 // The seal starts oversized and settles into a compact bar on scroll. 315 // Compact and expand at different depths: the shrink changes the header's 316 // height by more than one threshold, so a single cutoff lets the height 317 // change itself re-cross the line and the header pumps up and down. 318 var header = document.getElementById('site-header'); 319 var ticking = false; 320 function update() { 321 var y = window.scrollY; 322 if (y > 96) { 323 header.classList.add('is-compact'); 324 } else if (y < 8) { 325 header.classList.remove('is-compact'); 326 } 327 ticking = false; 328 } 329 window.addEventListener('scroll', function () { 330 if (!ticking) { 331 window.requestAnimationFrame(update); 332 ticking = true; 333 } 334 }, { passive: true }); 335 update(); 336})(); 337</script>
vendor: 1 bytes, line 337
337
338<script src="https://cdn.csdurant.com/lib/choices/choices.js"></script>
vendor: 1 bytes, line 338
338
339<script> 340// The county's own dropdowns get Choices, the same as the admin. Only inside a 341// form â the site's navigation has no selects and shouldn't grow any. 342document.querySelectorAll('.county-form select').forEach(function (el) { 343 el._choices = new Choices(el, { 344 itemSelectText: '', 345 allowHTML: false, 346 shouldSort: false, 347 // Type to narrow the list rather than scrolling it. 348 searchEnabled: true, 349 searchPlaceholderValue: 'Type to searchâ¦', 350 }); 351}); 352 353// Phone numbers format as they are typed â (660) 263-5494 â the same as the 354// admin does. Same idea for a Social Security number: 123-45-6789. 355document.querySelectorAll('.county-form input[type="tel"]').forEach(function (el) { 356 el.addEventListener('input', function () { 357 var d = el.value.replace(/\D/g, ''); 358 if (d.length === 11 && d.charAt(0) === '1') d = d.slice(1); 359 d = d.slice(0, 10); 360 if (d.length > 6) { 361 el.value = '(' + d.slice(0, 3) + ') ' + d.slice(3, 6) + '-' + d.slice(6); 362 } else if (d.length > 3) { 363 el.value = '(' + d.slice(0, 3) + ') ' + d.slice(3); 364 } else { 365 el.value = d; 366 } 367 }); 368}); 369 370document.querySelectorAll('.county-form [data-mask="ssn"]').forEach(function (el) { 371 el.addEventListener('input', function () { 372 var d = el.value.replace(/\D/g, '').slice(0, 9); 373 if (d.length > 5) { 374 el.value = d.slice(0, 3) + '-' + d.slice(3, 5) + '-' + d.slice(5); 375 } else if (d.length > 3) { 376 el.value = d.slice(0, 3) + '-' + d.slice(3); 377 } else { 378 el.value = d; 379 } 380 }); 381}); 382</script>
382 383</body> 384</html>
Line numbers count LF bytes from the start of the resource, as the search results do. Vendor segments are library code the classifier recognised; they are stored but not indexed. Bytes are shown as Latin1 characters, one per byte.