Taney County, Missouri

Taney County is a county located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,675. Its county seat is Forsyth. The county was officially organized on January 4, 1837, and named in honor of Roger Brooke Taney, the fifth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, most remembered for later delivering the infamous majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford.

Taney County includes the popular tourist destination city of Branson. It is included in the Branson, MO Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Springfield-Branson, MO Combined Statistical Area. With a wide range of live music shows, restaurants and shopping locations, Taney County is also the home of Table Rock, Taneycomo and Bull Shoals Lakes.

History

The first Taney County Courthouse was built by the early pioneers in 1837 and destroyed on July 22, 1861, during a Civil War Battle. The second Courthouse was destroyed by fire on December 19, 1885. The third Courthouse was removed in 1952 to permit the building of Bull Shoals Lake. The fourth, and present, Courthouse was occupied on August 1, 1952. In 1989, an addition was started and completed in 1991.