New Madrid County is a county in Missouri, United States, in the Bootheel region along a sweeping bend of the Mississippi River. It had a population of 16,434 at the 2020 census and covers 697 square miles (1,810 km2) centred near 36°35′N 89°40′W.
New Madrid is the county seat, and its postal code is 63869. The county has 7 incorporated cities and villages, plus more than a dozen unincorporated communities and 11 civil townships. It sits in the Central time zone.
Towns & Villages in New Madrid County
New Madrid County has 8 incorporated places (cities and villages) and roughly 30 unincorporated communities, several of them former rail sidings or river landings that never grew past a store and a grain elevator. CDP = Census-Designated Place; Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no municipal government.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Madrid | City · seat | New Madrid | 2,905 | 63869 |
| Portageville | City | Portage | 2,999 | 63873 |
| Lilbourn | City | Le Sieur | 1,275 | 63862 |
| Parma | City | Como | 664 | 63870 |
| Gideon | City | West | 1,022 | 63848 |
| Marston | Village | New Madrid | 510 | 63866 |
| Catron | Village | Anderson | 176 | 63833 |
| Risco | Village | Big Prairie | 210 | 63874 |
| Canalou | Village | Big Prairie | 325 | 63828 |
| Matthews | Village | Lewis | 555 | 63867 |
| Howardville | Village | New Madrid | 623 | — |
| North Lilbourn | Village | Le Sieur | 171 | — |
| Morehouse | City | West | — | 63868 |
| Kewanee | Unincorp. | Hough | — | 63860 |
| Tallapoosa | Unincorp. | Portage | — | 63878 |
| Point Pleasant | Unincorp. | New Madrid | — | — |
| La Forge | Unincorp. | Portage | — | — |
| Conran | Unincorp. | Como | — | — |
| Delmo | Unincorp. | Hough | — | — |
| Little River | Unincorp. | St. John | — | — |
| Broadwater | Unincorp. | Big Prairie | — | — |
| Champion | Unincorp. | Le Sieur | — | — |
| Baderville | Unincorp. | Anderson | — | — |
| Baxter | Unincorp. | New Madrid | — | — |
| Bayouville | Unincorp. | New Madrid | — | — |
| Big Ridge | Unincorp. | West | — | — |
| Boekerton | Unincorp. | Portage | — | — |
| Dodds | Unincorp. | Como | — | — |
| Dunn | Unincorp. | St. John | — | — |
| East Lake | Unincorp. | New Madrid | — | — |
| Farrenburg | Unincorp. | Hough | — | — |
| Forest Spur | Unincorp. | West | — | — |
| Frailie | Unincorp. | Le Sieur | — | — |
| Glendale | Unincorp. | Big Prairie | — | — |
| Hartzell | Unincorp. | Anderson | — | — |
| Hurricane Ridge | Unincorp. | New Madrid | — | — |
| Jaywye | Unincorp. | Lewis | — | — |
| Linda | Unincorp. | Como | — | — |
| Lone Star | Unincorp. | St. John | — | — |
| Lorwood | Unincorp. | West | — | — |
| Melby | Unincorp. | Big Prairie | — | — |
| New Garver | Unincorp. | Portage | — | — |
| Noxall | Unincorp. | Anderson | — | — |
| Ogden | Unincorp. | New Madrid | — | — |
| Otis | Unincorp. | Hough | — | — |
| Ristine | Unincorp. | Le Sieur | — | — |
| Selkirk | Unincorp. | Portage | — | — |
| Sky | Unincorp. | St. John | — | — |
| Turner | Unincorp. | New Madrid | — | — |
Sikeston, a well-known regional city, lies mostly across the line in Scott County and is covered on that county’s own page rather than here — only a small unincorporated fringe of its trade area touches New Madrid County.
Townships
New Madrid County is divided into 11 civil townships, which handle some local road and administrative functions outside the incorporated places. Township-level 2020 population figures are not separately published for this county.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| New Madrid | — | New Madrid, Marston, Howardville |
| Portage | — | Portageville, Tallapoosa, Selkirk |
| Le Sieur | — | Lilbourn, North Lilbourn, Champion |
| West | — | Gideon, Morehouse, Big Ridge |
| Como | — | Parma, Conran, Linda |
| Big Prairie | — | Risco, Canalou, Glendale |
| Anderson | — | Catron, Baderville, Hartzell |
| Lewis | — | Matthews, Jaywye, Frailie |
| Hough | — | Kewanee, Delmo, Farrenburg |
| St. John | — | Little River, Dunn, Lone Star, Sky |
ZIP Codes
- 63869 — New Madrid (also serves Baxter, Bayouville, East Lake, Ogden, Turner)
- 63873 — Portageville (also serves La Forge, Boekerton, New Garver, Selkirk)
- 63862 — Lilbourn (also serves North Lilbourn, Champion, Frailie)
- 63870 — Parma (also serves Conran, Linda, Dodds)
- 63848 — Gideon (also serves Big Ridge, Forest Spur, Lorwood)
- 63868 — Morehouse
- 63866 — Marston
- 63874 — Risco (also serves Glendale)
- 63828 — Canalou (also serves Broadwater, Melby)
- 63860 — Kewanee (also serves Delmo, Farrenburg, Otis)
- 63833 — Catron (also serves Baderville, Hartzell, Noxall)
- 63867 — Matthews (also serves Jaywye)
- 63878 — Tallapoosa
Howardville and Point Pleasant have no dedicated ZIP code and are served through the New Madrid post office.
Geography
New Madrid County occupies a broad, flat stretch of the Mississippi River’s alluvial floodplain in Missouri’s Bootheel. Its eastern edge follows the river through the Kentucky Bend, an oxbow so tight that Fulton County, Kentucky, sits as a landlocked exclave on the Missouri side of the water. The terrain is almost entirely agricultural bottomland, laced with drainage ditches feeding the Little River Drainage District, one of the largest land-reclamation systems in the country.
The county borders Scott County to the north, Mississippi County to the northeast, Stoddard County to the northwest, Dunklin County to the southwest, and Pemiscot County to the south. Across the Mississippi River lie Fulton County, Kentucky, and Lake County, Tennessee.
Demographics
New Madrid County had 16,434 residents at the 2020 census, a density of about 24 people per square mile. Portageville and New Madrid are its two largest communities, each with roughly 2,900 to 3,000 residents. The county’s median household income runs well below the Missouri median of $68,545, reflecting a farm-dependent local economy with a shrinking population base typical of the Bootheel.
Economy & Local Life
Row-crop agriculture drives the county: cotton, soybeans, rice, and corn dominate the flat, ditch-drained fields, supported by grain elevators and cotton gins in New Madrid, Portageville, and Parma. Southeast Missouri State University operates an agricultural research center in the county, and the New Madrid County Courthouse and hospital anchor the county seat’s public-sector employment.
History
New Madrid County was organized on October 1, 1812, one of Missouri’s original counties, taking its name from the town of New Madrid, itself named for Madrid, Spain, when the area was under Spanish colonial control. The county is best known nationally for the New Madrid Seismic Zone: a series of more than 1,000 earthquakes struck the region between December 1811 and February 1812, among the most powerful in recorded U.S. history, reportedly ringing church bells as far away as Boston and temporarily reversing the flow of the Mississippi River.
Getting There
Interstate 55 runs along the county’s western edge, with US Routes 60, 61, and 62 and Missouri Routes 153 and 162 providing local access.
- Sikeston, Missouri — 12 miles north
- Cairo, Illinois — 45 miles northeast
- Memphis, Tennessee — 90 miles south
- Cape Girardeau, Missouri — 40 miles north
The nearest commercial airport is Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, about 40 miles to the north.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is New Madrid County?
It is in the Bootheel of southeastern Missouri, along a bend of the Mississippi River, roughly 150 miles south of St. Louis.
What is the population of New Madrid County?
16,434 people at the 2020 census.
How big is New Madrid County?
697 square miles (1,810 km2), of which 675 square miles is land.
What is the county seat of New Madrid County?
New Madrid is the county seat.
How many towns and villages are in New Madrid County?
8 incorporated cities and villages, plus roughly 30 unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in New Madrid County?
Thirteen ZIP codes, including 63869 (New Madrid), 63873 (Portageville), and 63862 (Lilbourn).
Why is New Madrid County famous for earthquakes?
It gives its name to the New Madrid Seismic Zone, where a series of major quakes struck in 1811–1812, among the strongest ever recorded in the contiguous United States.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Missouri.