Bollinger County is a county in Missouri, United States, on the edge of the Ozark foothills southwest of Cape Girardeau. It had a population of 10,567 at the 2020 census and covers 621 square miles (1,610 km2) centred near 37°19′N 90°02′W.
Marble Hill is the county seat, and its postal code is 63764. The county has one incorporated city, three villages, and more than 30 unincorporated communities, spread across eight civil townships. Bollinger County sits in the Central time zone and is part of the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Combined Statistical Area.
Towns & Villages in Bollinger County
Marble Hill is the only incorporated city and the county’s seat of government. Glen Allen, Sedgewickville, and Zalma are incorporated villages. Everything else on the list below is an unincorporated community or crossroads — some are little more than a church, a store, and a cluster of houses. “CDP” denotes a Census-designated place; “Unincorp.” covers the rest.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marble Hill | City · seat | 1,388 | 63764 |
| Glen Allen | Village | — | 63751 |
| Sedgewickville | Village | — | 63781 |
| Zalma | Village | — | 63787 |
| Alliance | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Arab | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bessville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bollinger Mill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Buchanan | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Castor | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Clippard | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Dongola | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Drum | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Gipsy | Unincorp. | — | 63750 |
| Grassy | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Greenbrier | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Grisham | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hahn | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Heitmans Mill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hurricane | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Huskey | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Huxie | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Laflin | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Leopold | Unincorp. | — | 63760 |
| Lixville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Loyd | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lutesville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mayfield | Unincorp. | — | — |
| North Patton | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Patton | Unincorp. | — | 63662 |
| Patton Junction | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Precinct | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sank | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Schlatitz | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Scopus | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Shrum | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sturdivant | Unincorp. | — | 63782 |
| Tallent | Unincorp. | — | — |
Lutesville sits immediately south of Marble Hill and was a separate railroad town for over a century before the two effectively grew together; it has never been formally annexed, so it is still listed here as its own community.
ZIP Codes
- 63764 — Marble Hill (also serves Bollinger Mill, Lutesville)
- 63751 — Glenallen
- 63781 — Sedgewickville
- 63760 — Leopold
- 63787 — Zalma
- 63662 — Patton (also serves North Patton, Patton Junction)
- 63750 — Gipsy
- 63782 — Sturdivant
Smaller crossroads such as Alliance, Arab, Castor, Grassy, and Hurricane have no post office of their own and share the ZIP code of the nearest larger community.
Geography
Bollinger County straddles the boundary between two very different landscapes: the flat, drained farmland of the Mississippi River lowlands in the south and east, and the forested Ozark hills that rise across the northern and western part of the county. The Castor River and Crooked Creek both cross the county and have historically flooded the lowland farm ground. Missouri Routes 34, 51, and 72 are the main roads connecting the rural communities to Marble Hill.
Bollinger County borders Perry County to the north, Cape Girardeau County to the east, Stoddard County to the south, Wayne County to the southwest, and Madison County to the northwest.
Demographics
Bollinger County had 10,567 residents at the 2020 census. Marble Hill, the county seat, is the largest single community at 1,388 people; Lutesville and Sedgewickville are the next-largest named settlements, though neither is separately tallied by the Census Bureau. Median household income in the county runs below the Missouri median of $68,545, consistent with its largely rural, agricultural economy. With 618 square miles of land, the county’s overall population density is roughly 17 people per square mile.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture — cattle, row crops, and timber — remains a backbone of the local economy, alongside construction, manufacturing, and retail trade centered on Marble Hill. Bollinger County R-I School District serves most of the county from its campus in Marble Hill. The county’s rural character and hilly terrain also support hunting, fishing, and small-scale tourism tied to the Castor River and the surrounding Ozark foothills.
History
Bollinger County was organized on March 1, 1851, from parts of Wayne, Cape Girardeau, and Stoddard counties. It is named for George Frederick Bollinger, a German-descended settler from North Carolina who led a group of families — later remembered locally as the “Dutch Settlement” — into the area around 1800. Bollinger’s mill on the Whitewater River, rebuilt in the 1860s, still stands as the Bollinger Mill State Historic Site near Burfordville, just across the county line in Cape Girardeau County, and is linked to the Dutch, or Burfordville, Covered Bridge, the oldest of Missouri’s remaining covered bridges.
Getting There
Missouri Routes 34, 51, and 72 are the county’s principal highways, connecting Marble Hill to the surrounding towns.
- Cape Girardeau, MO — 20 miles east
- Fredericktown, MO — 18 miles northwest
- Poplar Bluff, MO — 45 miles south
- Perryville, MO — 25 miles north
The nearest commercial airport is Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, about 25 miles east of Marble Hill.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Bollinger County?
It is in the southeastern part of Missouri, between Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff, on the boundary of the Mississippi lowlands and the Ozark foothills.
What is the population of Bollinger County?
10,567 at the 2020 census.
How big is Bollinger County?
621 square miles (1,610 km2) in total, of which 618 square miles is land.
What is the county seat of Bollinger County?
Marble Hill is the county seat.
How many towns are in Bollinger County?
One incorporated city (Marble Hill), three incorporated villages (Glen Allen, Sedgewickville, Zalma), and more than 30 unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Bollinger County?
Eight ZIP codes serve the county, led by 63764 for Marble Hill; see the ZIP Codes section above.
What river runs through Bollinger County?
The Castor River is the county’s main waterway, along with Crooked Creek.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Missouri.