Central Missouri / Missouri River Corridor
Boone County's origin story starts in Boone's Lick Country
Boone County's government page says the county was founded in 1820 and that the settlement was originally known as Boone's Lick Country.
Start Boone County’s history before modern Columbia. The county was founded in 1820 by settlers moving west from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. The older county description points to rolling foothills, open prairies, and bluffs above the Missouri River.
Before “Boone County” became the civic label, the settlement was known as Boone’s Lick Country. The name came from a nearby salt lick operated by Daniel Boone’s sons. That older geography still helps explain why the county’s history looks west toward the Missouri River corridor and the Boone’s Lick region, not only toward Jefferson City.
For a reader tracing old road names, family history, or settlement patterns, Boone’s Lick is the useful starting point. It ties the county name to a place, a river-edge landscape, and the early public story of central Missouri.
Where to see it
- Boone County Government
Use the county site for Boone County's own public history and local government context.
References
More from Boone County: browse every local note for the county.
Last checked against the sources above: July 16, 2026.