Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the county had a population of 221,939, making it the fifth-most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Liberty. The county was organized January 2, 1822, and named in honor of U.S. Representative Henry Clay from Kentucky, later member of the United States Senate and United States Secretary of State.

Clay County is part of the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area and contains many of the city's northern suburbs, along with a substantial portion of the City of Kansas City.

Clay County owns and operates the Midwest National Air Center in Excelsior Springs.

History

Clay County was settled primarily from migrants from the Upper Southern states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. They brought slaves and slaveholding traditions with them, and quickly started cultivating crops similar to those in Middle Tennessee and Kentucky: hemp and tobacco. Clay was one of several counties settled mostly by Southerners to the north and south of the Missouri River. Given their culture and traditions, this area became known as Little Dixie. In 1860, slaves made up 25% or more of the county's population. Residents generally supported the Confederacy during the Civil War, as the Confederate flag flew over the county courthouse for many years following the end of the Civil War.

Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman:

Missouri (see pronunciations) is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is the 21st most extensive, and the 18th most populous of the fifty states. The state comprises 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis.

As defined by the 2010 US census, the four largest urban areas in order of population are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. The mean center of the United States population at the 2010 census was in the town of Plato in Texas County. The state's capital is Jefferson City. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory. Part of this territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821.

Missouri's geography is highly varied. The northern part of the state lies in dissected till plains and the southern portion lies in the Ozark Mountains (a dissected plateau), with the Missouri River dividing the regions. The state lies at the intersection of the three greatest rivers of the United States, with the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers near St. Louis, and the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi north of the Bootheel. The starting points for the Pony Express, Santa Fe Trail, and Oregon Trail were all located in Missouri as well.

Missouri is a rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, known primarily for the song "Movin' On".

History

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ron West was part of a well-remembered Kansas City band, The Chesmann, with his two brothers Gary and Steve. Heavily inspired by British invasion groups, the band played both live covers and recorded original studio material. Gary West was also a member of the band Shooting Star, which scored several modest AOR hits in the late 1970 and early 1980s.

Led by Ron West, the band's self-titled first album was released in 1977 on a label called Panama Records. Even though Panama was an independent label, the band garnered substantial airplay on American FM AOR radio stations, specifically with the track "Movin On". Missouri's first gig was opening for Firefall in Emporia, Kansas. Missouri toured nationally with many major label acts such as Ted Nugent, Golden Earring, among many others.

A second album, "Welcome Two Missouri", was released on the larger and international Polydor label in 1979, including a re-recorded version of "Movin On" minus the original intro. By this time two of the original line up had dropped out. No further recordings except a repackaging of recordings from the previous albums called the best of Missouri. Missouri songs are available on iTunes.

Missouri Wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Missouri. German immigrants in the early-to-mid-19th century, founded the wine industry in Missouri, resulting in its wine corridor being called the Missouri "Rhineland". Later Italian immigrants also entered wine production. In the mid-1880s, more wine was produced by volume in Missouri than in any other state. Before Prohibition, Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state in the nation. Missouri had the first area recognized as a federally designated American Viticultural Area with the Augusta AVA acknowledged on June 20, 1980. There are now four AVAs in Missouri. In 2009 there were 92 wineries operating in the state of Missouri.

History

Some Native American tribes cultivated local varieties of grapes. These species were developed further by later German Americans and Italian Americans.

German immigrants to the Missouri River valley established vineyards and wineries on both sides of the river. Hermann, Missouri, settled by Germans in 1837, had ideal conditions to grow grapes for wine. By 1848 winemakers there produced 10,000 US gallons (37,900 l) per year, expanding to 100,000 US gallons (378,500 l) per year by 1856. Overall, the state produced 2,000,000 US gallons (7,570,800 l) per year by the 1880s, the most of any state in the nation.Stone Hill Winery in Hermann became the second largest in the nation (and the third largest in the world), shipping a million barrels of wine by the turn of the 20th century. Its wines won awards at world fairs in Vienna in 1873 and Philadelphia in 1876.