Knox County's name reaches back to a Revolutionary War general

Knox County’s courthouse page gives the county a compact origin story. It says Knox County was organized on February 14, 1845, from Scotland County, with Edina as the county seat. The county was named for Henry Knox, a Revolutionary War general.

That is a small fact with a useful handle. A rural northeast Missouri county carries the name of a Boston bookseller who became George Washington’s chief of artillery and later the first U.S. Secretary of War, according to the State Historical Society of Missouri’s place-name notes.

For a reader, the name helps connect a local courthouse square to the wider naming habits of early counties. It also keeps Edina’s role clear. If the errand is taxes, records, court, or county offices, the public trail starts with the Knox County Courthouse at 107 North 4th Street in Edina.