[3] One source says that the county was specifically named for Watt Adair, one of the first Cherokees to settle in the area.

The county was created in 1906 from the Goingsnake and Flint districts of the Cherokee Nation.

[6] When the county was formed, Westville was identified as the county seat, due partly to its location at the intersection of two major railroads: the Kansas City Southern Railway and the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway.

[8] During the Great Depression and World War II, strawberries became a major crop in Adair County.

[9] The county is part of the Ozark plateau uplift, the tree-covered foothills of the Boston Mountains.

[5] North and central Adair County are drained by the Illinois River and three creeks.

Although most Native American counties tend to skew Democratic, the Cherokee Nation - which Adair County is a part of - has tended to be deeply Republican at the federal level for most its existence, though Southern Democrats have occasionally taken it in strong election years such as 1964 and 1976.

[19] The following sites in Adair County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: