Warsaw, MO

Warsaw’s county-seat map sits between two very large pieces of water. The Benton County city is on the Osage River, where Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir meet the town from different sides. Before the dams, Warsaw was a steamboat port—the farthest point navigable up the Osage—and the 1931 arrival of Lake of the Ozarks changed the river edge into a lake town. U.S. 65 and Missouri 7 still meet in the center, with the courthouse and downtown streets close to the water.

Drake Harbor brings that water right up against downtown. The city-managed harbor has a public boat ramp, walking trails, a playground, and parking, and the downtown/Drake Harbor network now totals about nine miles of trails. A 2006 trail plan was developed with community members and Drury University landscape architecture students. Warsaw’s daily map is county government, water access, recreation, and school routines, with Truman Lake and Harry S. Truman State Park nearby. You can move from courthouse errands to a boat ramp or trail without changing the town’s basic shape.