Moberly is a city in Randolph County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,783 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia metropolitan area and the 9-county Columbia–Jefferson City–Moberly combined statistical area that has 415,747 residents.
Columbia is a city in Boone County, Missouri, United States, and its county seat. It was founded in 1821 and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Missouri. Columbia is a Midwestern college town, home to the University of Missouri, a major research institution also known as MU or Mizzou. In addition to the university and surrounding Downtown Columbia are Stephens College and Columbia College, giving the city its educational focus and nearly 40,000 college students. It is the principal city of the Columbia metropolitan area, population 215,811, and the central city of the nine-county Columbia–Jefferson City–Moberly combined statistical area with 415,747 residents. The city is the fastest-growing municipality in Missouri, with a growth of almost 40% since 2000, and a population estimated at 130,900 in 2024. Columbia is among the most-educated cities in the United States with about half of citizens being college graduates and about a quarter holding advance degrees.
The city is built on the oak-forested hills and rolling prairies of Mid-Missouri, near the Missouri River, where the Ozark Mountains transition into plains and savanna. At the city's center is the Avenue of the Columns (8th Street), connecting Francis Quadrangle and Jesse Hall to the Boone County Courthouse and City Hall. Surrounding Columbia is a greenbelt including Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, the Mark Twain National Forest, Katy Trail State Park, Finger Lakes State Park, and the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Limestone bedrock forms bluffs and glades while rain dissolves the bedrock, creating karst (caves and springs) which water the Hinkson, Roche Perche, Flat Branch, and Bonne Femme creeks. Within city limits, there is an extensive city parks and trails system with a focus on non-motorized transportation, including the MKT Trail. The Columbia Agriculture Park is home to the nationally-regarded Columbia Farmers Market.
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of the U.S. state of Missouri. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 United States census, ranking as the 16th most populous city in the state, but the 9th least populous U.S. state capital. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principal city of the Jefferson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, the second-most-populous metropolitan area in Mid-Missouri and the fifth-most populous in the state. It forms part of the nine-county Columbia–Jefferson City–Moberly combined statistical area, which has 415,747 residents. Most of the city is located within Cole County, with a small northern section extending into adjacent Callaway County.
Jefferson City is named for Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), the third President of the United States, 1801–1809, and earlier major author of the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. He also served several diplomatic posts overseas in Europe and was the first U.S. Secretary of State (1790–1793) in the first President's Cabinet of George Washington, and subsequently the second Vice President (1797–1801) under second chief executive John Adams.
The Columbia metropolitan area is the region centered around the City of Columbia in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in Mid-Missouri, it consists of five counties: Boone, Audrain, Randolph, Cooper, and Howard. The population was estimated at 256,640 in 2017, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in Missouri. Columbia is home to the University of Missouri, and is Missouri's fourth most-populous and fastest growing city, with an estimated 121,717 residents as of 2017. Other significant cities in the area include Moberly, Mexico, Boonville, Vandalia, Centralia, and Fayette. There is also a 9-county Columbia–Jefferson City–Moberly combined statistical area with 415,747 residents.
The area was originally called the Boonslick and settled mainly by Kentuckians following the Boone's Lick Road starting around 1812. The town of Franklin, now washed into the Missouri River, was an early commercial center and start of the Santa Fe Trail. Columbia was founded as county seat of Boone County in 1821. The region was considered for the location of the Missouri State Capitol, but eventually a site was chosen 30 miles (48 km) south of Columbia and Jefferson City was created to serve that purpose. Today, Interstate 70, and U.S. Highways 63, 54, 24, and 40 link the urban areas. The U.S. census defines the Columbia MSA as Boone, Cooper, and Howard counties while the addition of the Jefferson City MSA along with Audrain and Randolph form the combined statistical area.
Perche Creek, or Roche Perche Creek is a stream in Boone and Randolph counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Besides the Missouri River it is the largest stream in Boone County, Missouri and forms much of the western border of the city of Columbia, Missouri. The northern source is in southeast Randolph County approximately six miles south of Moberly.
Perche Creek was named for a natural bridge on a cliff of the Missouri River near the former location of the mouth of the Perche. The Missouri French called it Roche Perche ("pierced rock") and the Kentuckians and Virginians who settled Boone County adopted the name from them. Currently the Roche Perche flows into the Missouri River about a mile north of Providence.