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Missouri County
Livingston County, Missouri
Home of Sliced Bread and Grand River valley - from Chillicothe's extraordinary culinary distinction as the Home of Sliced Bread (the Chillicothe Baking Company sold the world's first commercially sliced bread on July 7, 1928 - the invention by Otto Frederick Rohwedder transformed American food culture and gave the English language its most common superlative comparison, making Chillicothe one of the most remarkably overlooked contributors to everyday American life) to Livingston County's Grand River valley agriculture (the Grand River drains the county's rolling farmland supporting corn, soybean, and cattle operations in the north Missouri agricultural belt).
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Office: Livingston County Emergency Management – 700 2nd Street, Chillicothe, MO 64601 | (660) 646-2139.
Dispatch: Livingston County E-911 – housed at the Sheriff’s Office; non-emergency (660) 646-2121; combined into a single county center in a cost-saving consolidation (roughly $64,724 in taxpayer savings), funded by a 1997 voter-approved local phone-line surcharge (Missouri has no statewide E-911 tax).
Sheriff: Livingston County Sheriff’s Office – 901 Webster Street, Chillicothe, MO 64601 | Non-emergency (660) 646-0515; Sheriff Dustin Woelfle. Note: the Sheriff’s Office is not staffed 24 hours (since March 2013) – always call 911 for emergencies.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-36 and US-65 serve Chillicothe, the county seat, in north-central Missouri.
Notes: Livingston County offices are centered at 700 Webster Street, Chillicothe, MO 64601. Chillicothe, laid out in 1837, takes its name from the Shawnee word for “big town.”
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Livingston County Courthouse – Chillicothe, MO 64601; the surrounding courthouse historic district is NRHP-listed and features a mural depicting the town’s most famous claim to fame.
Notes: Chillicothe is genuinely and famously “The Home of Sliced Bread.” On July 7, 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company became the first bakery in the world to sell machine-sliced bread to the public, using a slicing machine invented by Otto Rohwedder, a jeweler from nearby St. Joseph, Missouri. The event directly gave rise to the phrase “the greatest thing since sliced bread.” For decades the claim was largely forgotten locally until local journalist Catherine Strotz Ripley researched and publicized it around 2000; the town has since fully embraced the identity, adopting “Home of Sliced Bread” as its official slogan in 2003, hosting an annual “Sliced Bread Day” (made official by the Missouri General Assembly in 2018, celebrated each July 7 with a parade, concerts, a 5K run, and a bread-baking competition), and converting the original bakery building into the “Home of Sliced Bread” Welcome Center and museum, complete with an antique bread-slicing machine and an escape room.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Livingston County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via livingstoncountymo.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Kirksville or Columbia VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Chillicothe Public Library – confirm current address/phone via livingstoncountymo.gov; features local-history murals depicting Livingston County heritage, painted by celebrated local artist Kelly Poling (1961-2018), whose 23 murals citywide anchor Chillicothe’s designated arts district.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The “Home of Sliced Bread” Welcome Center and Museum, the Livingston County Courthouse historic district, and Silver Moon Plaza (an outdoor event venue flanked by Poling murals) are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine “Home of Sliced Bread” story – the literal origin of “the greatest thing since sliced bread” – is one of the most widely recognizable local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Livingston County Assessor – confirm current contact via livingstoncountymo.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Chillicothe Animal Shelter (Forest O. Triplett Memorial Animal Shelter, operated by the Livingston County Humane Society) – 1400 South Mitchell Avenue, Chillicothe, MO 64601 | (660) 646-1006 | Hours: daily 9 AM-2 PM (or by appointment); adoption fees $175 dogs / $100 cats; free petting zoo on-site; the City of Chillicothe contracts with the Livingston County Humane Society (a 501(c)(3), separate from county government) for animal control services and employs an animal control officer. Note: Livingston County itself has no countywide animal control ordinance outside Chillicothe city limits – confirm current rural options via the Sheriff’s Office, (660) 646-0515.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Livingston County – confirm current contact via livingstoncountymo.gov.
NOTES: Livingston County is the fourth county in the ninth batch of the Missouri v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine “Home of Sliced Bread” story is one of the most widely recognizable local facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Livingston County
Livingston County is north-central Missouri’s Home of Sliced Bread and Grand River agricultural county – the birthplace of commercially sliced bread in 1928 gives Chillicothe one of American food history’s most consequential and underappreciated distinctions while the Grand River valley’s productive farmland sustains the county’s agricultural economy.
Chillicothe (the county seat, population ~9,000) is Livingston County’s governmental and commercial hub, a north Missouri city on US 36 whose sliced bread heritage and courthouse square anchor a traditional Missouri agricultural community.
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Livingston County Assessor at 700 Webster Street, Chillicothe, MO 64601, phone 660-646-8000. MO assessed at percentage of true value.
Courts & Legal
Livingston County Circuit Court at 700 Webster Street, Chillicothe, MO 64601, phone 660-646-8000, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
700 Webster St., Chillicothe, MO 64601
(660) 646-8000
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Livingston County Circuit Court, Probate Division (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The historic district around the Livingston County Courthouse in Chillicothe is NRHP-listed.
Local societies
No dedicated Livingston County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Livingston County Circuit Court, Probate Division 700 Webster Street, Chillicothe, MO 64601 (660) 646-8000
Livingston County was founded January 6, 1837, named for Edward Livingston, in northwestern Missouri, seated in Chillicothe – famously known as the “Home of Sliced Bread,” where the first commercial bread-slicing machine was used in 1928.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Missouri probate is governed by Title XXXI of the Missouri Revised Statutes (Chapters 470-475), the Probate Code.
Small Estate Affidavit (RSMo § 473.097) – available when the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $40,000. A 30-day waiting period after death applies, and only if no application for letters is pending. If the property listed is worth more than $15,000, the clerk must publish a notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. A bond may be required. Once the court issues a certified small estate certificate, the affiant presents it directly to whoever holds the property to collect and distribute assets – avoiding full probate. Typical timeline: about two months to close, versus six months to a year or more for full probate.
Formal Administration – required for larger or more complex estates. A petition for Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one) is filed with the probate division. After review, the court appoints the personal representative and issues the letters. Missouri offers both supervised and independent administration. Missouri requires an attorney to represent the personal representative in both types of administration.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a petition with the Probate Division of the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes a notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and gives direct notice to known creditors. Creditors have 6 months from the date of first publication to file claims.
Within 30 days of appointment (unless the court extends the deadline), the personal representative files an inventory and appraisement of all estate assets.
After debts are paid and the creditor claim period expires, the personal representative distributes the remaining assets and files a final settlement with the court to close the estate.
What it costs
Missouri sets statutory minimum fees for attorneys and personal representatives based on a percentage of the estate’s value, though additional fees may be allowed for extraordinary services.
Missouri has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
700 Webster St., Chillicothe, MO 64601
(660) 646-0515
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
700 Webster St., Chillicothe, MO 64601
(660) 646-8000
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MO Dept of Social Services — Livingston
(660) 646-0555
Hedrick Medical Center
hedrickmedical.org (Chillicothe — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Livingston County Health Department – confirm current phone via livingstoncountymo.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Chillicothe
Population: 15,000
Area: 536 sq mi
Established: 1837
Tier: 3
Public Records
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