Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Shannon County is a county located in South Central Missouri in the United States, and the second-largest by area in Missouri. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 8,324. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 8,423. Its county seat is Eminence. The county was officially organized on January 29, 1841, and was named in honor of George F. "Peg-Leg" Shannon, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Missouri's first copper mine was opened here in 1846 and Missouri's only manganese mine was opened here during World War II. As of 2000, Shannon County ranked 78th on the list of counties with the lowest per capita income and 46th on the list of counties with the lowest median household incomes in the United States, making it the poorest county in Missouri.