Ava, MO

Ava is the county seat and only incorporated city in Douglas County, in the southern Missouri Ozarks. The town began as Militia Springs and was renamed Ava in 1881; its county-seat role is visible in the courthouse square and the local institutions gathered around it. The city’s current departments include utilities, community center, parks and recreation, police, fire, and the Bill Martin Memorial Airport, giving the small city a municipal network that serves a wide rural county. Ava also functions as a gateway to the surrounding forest and karst country.

The Forest Service’s Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs district office is on South Jefferson Street, and Mark Twain National Forest provides trails, streams, camping, and other public-land recreation across the Ozarks. Within town, the Douglas County Public Library and community center provide civic and social settings alongside the city’s parks. Daily life links county administration and local services with the outdoor landscape beyond the city. The district office also keeps federal land management in the town civic picture.