Gainesville, MO

Gainesville is the Ozark County seat, set in the Lick Creek valley where U.S. 160 and Missouri Route 5 meet. The city was platted in 1841 and named for Gainesville, Georgia, the home of many early settlers. It became the county seat in 1857, and a post office has operated since 1860. That courthouse role gives Gainesville a civic weight beyond its population: roads from the surrounding hills converge here for county business, school, shopping, and daily errands.

Gainesville R-V School District serves a wide rural area, with a 61-acre campus that includes the high school, junior high, and elementary school. The district reaches communities including Thornfield, Wasola, Tecumseh, and Pontiac, so the school calendar pulls a broad slice of Ozark County into town. The Ozark County Historium on the west side of the square preserves local heritage in a former general-merchandise building, keeping history close to the courthouse. Gainesville is a small Missouri seat where county government, schools, and Ozark roads meet around one valley.