The county was organized December 14, 1818, and named for explorer Zebulon Pike.

[citation needed] Pike County is said to be the home of Momo (The Missouri Monster).

Spencer abandoned his business when unfriendly native americans became a threat to his safety.

This occurred despite the fact that key US/Unionist military operations to control "Confederate" upstarts were launched from Pike County and had bases there.

[citation needed] In a violent period near the turn of the 20th century, five African Americans were tragically lynched in Pike County between 1891 and 1914.

[4] Among those were Curtis and Sam Young, who were both lynched for allegedly murdering the city marshall, Walter Meloan, on June 6, 1898, in Clarksville,[5] a small town on the Mississippi River.

[6] Pike tied with Howard County, Missouri for the highest number of lynchings of African Americans in the state during this historical period.

Note that, per the tables below, Republican Pike County voters prevailed in Missouri gubernatorial elections of 2016 and 2004, and came close to a tie for dominance in 2012, followed by a clear overtaking of county politics in 2016, in contrast with a tradition of nominal Democratic party affiliations of county-level officials.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York) received more votes, a total of 1,447, than any candidate from either party in Pike County during the 2008 presidential primary.