Howell County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 40,400. The largest city and county seat is West Plains. The county was officially organized on March 2, 1851, and is named after Josiah Howell, a pioneer settler in the Howell Valley.Howell County comprises the West Plains, MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.HistoryHowell County was organized on March 2, 1857, from Oregon County, and is named for Josiah Howell, who made the first settlement in Howell Valley.The first Circuit Court met in a log cabin one mile east of West Plains, according to an 1876 account. A small, wooden courthouse was built on the square in West Plains in 1859. It was damaged during the Civil War in 1862. The county was reorganized three years later, but all of the county records were destroyed in an 1866 fire. A second courthouse was built in West Plains in 1869. It was a small, three-room, frame building, about 24 by 30 feet.GeographyAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (0.1%) is water. It is the third-largest county in Missouri by land area and fourth-largest by total area.Adjacent countiesTexas County (north)Shannon County (northeast)Oregon County (east)Fulton County, Arkansas (south)Ozark County (southwest)Douglas County (northwest)
