Northern Missouri
Why the county seat sits at Chillicothe
Chillicothe is the Livingston County seat and the location of the courthouse and core county offices, which is where residents handle assessment, collection, recording, and other county business.
Chillicothe’s county-seat story starts before the courthouse errands. On August 7, 1837, the county court met at Joseph Cox’s house and took the first steps toward laying out a town where the state-appointed commissioners would locate the county seat. John Graves was appointed to lay off lots, and the new town was ordered to be called “Chilicothe,” with one l in that early record.
The town did not stop at a name. It was to be surveyed into 20 blocks, with a public square held back from the first lot sales. Lots were sold in October 1837 and again in May 1838. In June 1838, the county ordered a public well dug near the southwest corner of the square. That is the useful little detail: county-seat geography here was literally built around a square, lots, a well, and county records.
Chillicothe was formally selected as Livingston County’s county seat on July 15, 1839, after it had already been acting like the county’s capital for a while. Today the practical side is easier to see: county offices still point residents back to Chillicothe for assessment, tax, recording, court, and commission business. Check the county site for current office details when planning the errand.
Where to see it
- Livingston County offices in Chillicothe
Use the county site for current office contact details; use the city history page for the early county-seat story.
References
More from Livingston County: browse every local note for the county.
Last checked against the sources above: July 1, 2026.