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Welcome to the Moniteau County Historical Society!

Explore our collection of marriages, obituaries, cemeteries, schools, churches, and more through our library, museum and online resources.

Preserving Moniteau County’s Rich History

We’re dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the stories of Moniteau County. Through our exhibits, archives, and community resources, we help keep local history alive for future generations.

Member of USGenWeb and MoGenWeb since 1996

The county coordinator is Alan Sparks.

Moniteau County was created in February 1845 from Cole and Morgan Counties. Counties surrounding Moniteau are Boone, Cole, Miller, Morgan and Cooper counties. The county seat is California.

Our Impact

10

Rooms of memorabilia & artifacts from the first 200+ years of Moniteau County History

>

3000

Volumes of historical documents, family histories, pictures

100

%

Moniteau County newspapers available from 1858-2021

179

Known burial locations documented with pictures

3

Veterans memorials

Testimonials

Stories from Our Community Researchers

“One of the most recent permanent additions to our museum is the Veterans room. We had a student completing her masters degree in Museum Studies create this wonderful display as part of her internship with us. It covers the time from the Civil War through Desert Storm and is dedicated to all from our county who served. In creating the display all of our archives were searched and many photos, flat art and materials from the wars were used, even part of a German parachute which fell behind Allied lines. Museum visitors may touch the parachute.”

Dave

“I have been impressed by the outreach of the Moniteau County Historical Society to the many communities in the county.  Each has a unique and rich heritage and the people within the community are eager to share their memories and historical artifacts.”

Virginia

“I find the Moniteau County Historical Society’s website well-organized and full of helpful information. I particularly like the extensive information on the churches and businesses in the county.”

Alan

“I use the Moniteau County Historical Society’s online obituaries and marriages probably more than anything else for my research. I find them very helpful.  I love that this information is easy to access online and anytime I want to do research.  I love working at my computer on a cold winter day with my cup of coffee doing this research/ reading.  I so appreciate being able to go to the cemetery listings, click on the cemetery I’m looking for, click on the picture or pictures of the stones and sometimes I find the death certificate icon too.  On most of the people listed you will find date of birth, date of death, who they married and the date they married.”

Shirley

Get in Touch

Anyone with questions, donations or would like to learn more about us, please visit us at the following:

Moniteau County Historical Society
201 N High St
California, MO 65018

Library hours: 1-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April through October

Museum hours: 1-3 p.m. every 1st and 3rd Sunday, April through October