The county itself, named for Revolutionary War hero, Nathanael Greene, was officially established on January 2, 1833. Its
 boundaries encompassed most of southwest Missouri, having previously been a part of Wayne County. Its present boundaries
 were finalized in 1858. As the county prospered and increased in population, small villages arose, particularly along the Frisco
 Railroad, with names such names as Bois D'Arc, Brookline, Ash Grove, Fair Grove, Republic, Strafford, Walnut Grove,
 Willard, and Battlefield.

 The largest community in Greene County is Springfield, founded by John Polk Campbell, a settler from Maury County,
 Tennessee. He arrived with his brother, Madison, in 1829, and upon finding a "natural well,” its water flowing into a small
 stream at the foot of a wooded hill, carved his initials on an ash tree to establish his claim. (The site of the spring is on
 present-day Water Street, between North Jefferson and North Robberson.) Campbell returned to Tennessee for his family and
 returned to the Ozarks in March 1830. Other settlers arrived almost daily and it was not long before a rather sizable log cabin
 settlement developed along with stores, mills, a school, post office, land office and other necessary businesses to service a
 growing community.