Pulaski County /

Pulaski County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. The county was organized in 1833 and named for Kazimierz Pułaski, Polish patriot who died fighting in the American Revolution. As of 2010, the population was 52,274, an increase of 27% from the 2000 Census count of 41,165. Its county seat is Waynesville. It is the site of Fort Leonard Wood, a U.S. Army installation. Pulaski County's earliest settlers were the Quapaw, Missouria and Osage Indians. After the Lewis and Clark Expedition of the early 19th century, white settlers came to the area, many from Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas; the earliest pioneers appeared to have settled as early as 1818, and the town of Waynesville was designated the county seat by the Missouri Legislature in 1833. Like the county, Waynesville is also named after an American Revolutionary hero, Mad Anthony Wayne. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 551 square miles (1,428 km²), of which, 547 square miles (1,417 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (11 km²) of it (0.80%) is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 41,165 people, 13,433 households, and 9,953 families residing in the county. The