Taney County, Missouri: History
The first Taney County Courthouse was built on the mouth of Bull Creek at the confluence of the White River by early pioneers in 1837. Its use as a courthouse ended after Forsyth became the county seat; it was destroyed in a tornado in 1963.
The county's second courthouse, in Forsyth, was destroyed in a Civil War battle on July 22, 1861. The rebuilt courthouse was destroyed by fire on December 19, 1885. A 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. An addition was completed in 1991 after two years of construction.
In the years following the Civil War, Taney County experienced ongoing violence and weak official authority. In response, a group of 13 local men led by Union veteran Nat Kinney formed a vigilante organization known as the Bald Knobbers on April 5, 1885, near Kirbyville, Missouri. The group took its name from their meeting location on a treeless hilltop known as Snapp's Bald.
The Bald Knobbers were organized not to uphold equal justice, but to impose their own strict and often violent values on the community. Claiming to oppose crime, they often targeted individuals who simply did not conform to their moral or political views. As their influence grew, their actions became more extreme—ranging from intimidation and public beatings to acts of deadly violence.
The group’s tactics soon provoked backlash. Opposing factions, sometimes called the Anti-Bald Knobbers, formed in resistance. Tensions escalated into deadly confrontations, including the assassination of Kinney in 1888 and the 1889 public execution of several Bald Knobbers who had committed murder.
The Bald Knobbers left a controversial legacy, seen remembered by many as enforcers of fear who used violence to shape society according to their own ideals. Their story inspired literature and folklore, including Harold Bell Wright’s novel The Shepherd of the Hills and local Ozarks tourism attractions.
In 1904, the White River Railway was extended through the rugged terrain of Stone and Taney counties. By then, both counties had for years had a sundown town policy, forbidding African Americans to live there.
In 2008, a New Taney County Judicial Center was built. That Judicial Center houses the courtrooms, the Circuit Clerk, and the County Jail.