Audrain County, MI

Many people know the great state of Missouri, what many people don’t know is that there is a great county that has been standing for well over 150 years. That’s the county of Audrain and it’s a booming county that just keeps growing. In 2000, the population of the rich county was 25, 853. The county, although no one is quite clear, seems to be named after Samuel Audrain. There are others out there who believe the county got it’s name from a state legislator known as either James Audrain or Charles Audrain.

The county is not unique. As a matter of fact it is one of the several counties that was formed along the Missouri River. It’s immigrants were from the Upper South. They had previously populated the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. These state brought slaves and slaveholding traditions with them and they were able to use those slaves to help cultivate crops that would act that would resemble what they were getting in Middle Tennessee. They started to make hemp products as well as tobacco. This turned out to be a great boon to the economy.

The south has always been known for it’s connection to tobacco and so in starting a county it was only appropriate that in the face of no other original ideas for their county that they go back to doing the old tried and true methods of running their county and making it financially viable. This is where tobacco and hemp came in. These crops became the backbone of the county until recently. While tobacco is still a viable crop, recent restraints put on the tobacco industry has made this crop far less profitable than ever before. Audrain county is one of the most stable counties and will continue that way for years to come.