USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 53
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Other villages in Mississippi county are Whiting, a saw-mill town, Sands and Wolf Island. Bird's Point, the famous old town settled in early days by a member of the Bird family for whom it was named has practically ceased to exist having been washed away by the river on whose bank it was situated.
GIDEON
One of the fastest growing towns in New Madrid county is Gideon which is situated on the St. Louis & Gulf Railroad about three miles east of the Dunklin county line. Fif- teen years ago its site was in the midst of the unbroken forests of the Little River lowland. In 1900 a mill was located at this place by the firm of Gideon & Anderson. A town sprung up about the mill and it became a prosperous
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community. It was incorporated as a village in 1906. Among the early settlers were W. P. Anderson, M. S. Anderson, Frank E. Gideon and M. V. Mumma. The first merchants in the place were Gideon & Anderson, the owners of the mill. There are now general stores and other business establishments. There are also two sawmills, a stave factory, handle factory and planing mill. The town has electric light supplied by the mill company. There are two churches-Methodist and Baptist, a four-room school building, and seven acres of land has been set aside for a park. The country about Gideon is exceedingly fertile, and as it is drained and cleared will be supported by a fine farming community. Its population is 702.
PARMA
In 1900 the first settlers moved to the site of the present town of Parma, New Madrid county. This town is eight miles northwest of Malden on the line of the St. Louis South- western Railway between Cairo and Malden. It is not a great way from an earlier village which was known as Lotta. The site of the new town of Parma was determined by the crossing of a line of the Frisco Railroad at this point. The presence of the two railroads and construction of mills for the working up of the great timber supplies, brought a con- siderable number of people to the town. It was situated in rather a low place and before drainage ditches were cut, was subject to con- stant overflow. This has been remedied, how- ever, by the cutting of the ditches so that its site now is a very good one. The timber is be- ing rapidly cut out and farming land opened up in the vicinity. Among the early set- tlers were : William Webb, Sol Hon and H. L. Boaz. Boaz and Wrather Brothers were among the early merchants. In 1905 owing
to the wealth of the town and its importance it was incorporated and F. P. Wrather was the first mayor. The town now has six gen- eral stores and a number of other business in- terests, among them a handle factory and two large veneering factories. The financial in- terests of the town are cared for by the Bank of Parma, established in 1905, with a capital of $10,000. The more important buildings are the I. O. O. F. hall, recently constructed and the new brick school building erected in 1910, containing eight rooms and thoroughly equipped. The town has electric lights. Good sidewalks have been built in the central part of the town and some work done towards the paving of the streets. The population is now 905.
LILBOURN
One of the fastest growing towns in South- east Missouri is Lilbourn in New Madrid county, situated at the junction of the St. Louis Southwestern and the St. Louis & San Francisco railroads. The first town in the vicinity was called Papaw Junction and was situated about a mile west of the present site of the town where the New Madrid branch joined the main line of the St. Louis South- western. The town was incorporated in 1904, its first mayor being R. T. Waring. Waring was one of the first settlers and also one of the early merchants of the town, others being D. H. Wilkison and R. F. Baynes. The town has eight general stores and besides these several. factories, broom, stave, handle, brick and tile plant and two saw-mills. There is one bank in the town known as the Bank of Lilbourn which was chartered in 1910 and has a capital of $10,000. The town is lighted with electric lights and is growing very rapidly. It is situ- ated in the midst of good farming country and has unusual railroad facilities. The popula-
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tion as given by the census of 1910 is 274 but now the citizens claim a population of 1,200. The town has recently made a number of public improvements including over five miles of granitoid sidewalks.
Como, on Como lake, is a village in New Madrid county on the St. Louis Southwest- ern. It has timber interests and is in the midst of what is destined to be a fine farming country. Canalou is on the Gulf branch of the Frisco. It was settled as a sawmill town when the Houck road was constructed in 1902. It has extensive timber interests, a saw mill, store, and several minor business interests. Hyman, Mathews, and Risco are other villages in New Madrid county.
MOREHOUSE
Morehouse, in the extreme northwest corner of New Madrid county, had its origin in the location here of large saw mills when the Cairo branch of the Iron Mountain made possible the handling of the vast quantities of timber found about the town and surrounding coun- try. For many years the place was merely a saw-mill town. It is on the bank of Little River which overflows most of the place. The surrounding country was almost wholly tim- bered, and much of it not capable of being cultivated without being drained. With the building of the Gulf Railroad, the clearing away of the timber, the drainage and subse- quent cultivation of the lands, and the protec- tion of the town from overflow by the build- ing of levees along the course of Little River, the place began to develop. It is now a thriv- ing and prosperous town of 1,700 people, with good streets, sidewalks, well built business blocks, churches, a good brick school building, a superior hotel, and one of the largest saw- mill plants in the state. In this mill, which
is owned by the Himmelberger. Harrison Lum- ber Company are cut vast quantities of cy- press and gum lumber. The town bids fair to grow and to become even more prosperous as more of the land is subjected to cultivation as it is of unsurpassed fertility.
HAYTI
At the junction of the main line of the Frisco with the Caruthersville and Kennett branch, six miles from Caruthersville, is the town of Hayti, Pemiscot county. It began to be a town at the time of the building of the railroad from Kennett to Caruthersville and has had a rapid growth since. It now has a population of 1,057. Its business interests consist of a number of general stores, two banks and several manufacturing establish- ments devoted to wood working principally. It has a good system of public schools, several churches and a city hall which is above the average for towns of this size. There is one paper, the Hayti Herald, which is edited by William York ..
PASCOLA
Pascola, an unincorporated village in Pemis- cot county, is situated on the Frisco Railroad between Kennett and Hayti. It began to be a town on the building of the railroad from Kennett to Caruthersville in 1894 but pre- vious to that time there had been settlers liv- ing in the immediate vicinity of the town since 1879. The earliest of these were Tim In- gram and Mrs. Sarah Brown. The town was incorporated in 1899, the first mayor being A. Russell. The merchants in the early period were John Swails and Edward Harrison. There are now three general stores and one stave factory. The town is largely dependent upon the agricultural community around.
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HOLLAND
In 1871 J. C. Winters and J. W. Holland settled on the site of the present town of Hol- land in Pemiscot county. Winters is still a resident of the town but Holland, for whom it was named, is dead. It was twenty years before the place was anything more than simply a little group of farms; not until the opening of the Frisco Railroad be- tween St. Louis and Memphis was there any considerable activity in building up of the town. This was in 1901 and the first incor- poration was made in May, 1903; Samuel E. Redmond was the first mayor. Besides Win- ters and Holland, Joe and J. L. Lester, J. E. Butler and James Mills were among the first who moved into the town. The first mer- chants were W. A. Sanford, Holland Supply Company, A. L. Watson and G. S. Mirick. There are now five general stores and the usual number of blacksmith shops, restau- rants and other small establishments. In ad- dition to these there are two cotton gins and a saw mill in the town. One of the local in- stitutions of which the town is proud is the telephone exchange owned by the Citizens Co-operative Telephone Company of Holland. The population is about 400, having increased very rapidly in the last two or three years. This is due to the development of the sur- rounding country, which is of unusual fer- tility.
STEELE
Steele is an unincorporated village in the southern part of Pemiscot county. It was named for L. L. Steele. Some of the persons who lived there during its first years were William Wilford, Jesse VanHoy, G. E. Moore and Henry Flowers. The first merchants
were F. T. Jackson Store Company and George W. Freese. The business interests of the town are now represented by seven gen- eral stores, three cotton gins, a saw-mill and a grist mill. The Bank of Steele was chartered in 1904, and has a capital of $10,000. The town is in the midst of fine farming country and gives every evidence of continued pros- perity. It now has a population of 600 and is situated on the Frisco Railroad.
Cottonwood Point on the river, in Pemiscot county, was for a long time an important ship- ping point for the adjacent country. Much traffic came to the place from Pemiscot and even Dunklin counties on the construction of a road across the Little River swamp. The town prospered on account of this business, a number of large stores and other business es- tablishments sprung up, churches were built and a school maintained. Tyler, to the south, experienced a similar growth in a smaller de- gree. Both of these towns lost their impor- tance in a large measure by the building up of Caruthersville to the north of them and the construction of the Frisco Railroad through the county west of them.
Deering and Wardell are important saw- mill towns, and other villages in Pemiscot county are Game on the Frisco, Stancil, Stew- art and Covington and Kennedy.
CLARYVILLE
The town of Claryville in Perry county was settled in 1869 and incorporated as a town in 1871, the first mayor being V. P. Tucker. The first merchant in the town was E. J. Rhodes. There are now three general stores, but no factories of any kind and the town is depend- ent upon the farming community about it. It has a population of 140.
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LITHIUM
Lithium, same county, was surveyed as a town in 1882. At that time the settlers were Dr. Henry Clay Tish, Richard P. Dobbs and James G. Christian, all of whom came to Mis- souri from Illinois. The town was incorpo- rated in 1883 and the first mayor was Richard C. Lisenby. The first store was opened by Brown and Hartley in the spring of 1883. A public bath house was built by Thomas King in the same year. The location of the town was determined by certain mineral springs. They were very popular and the town grew very rapidly for about a year. There are two of these springs of water both of them being highly prized on account of medicinal quali- ties. One of them belongs to the town and the other is owned by Mrs. Richard P. Dobbs. The town is situated on the Cape Girardeau, Perryville & Ste. Genevieve Railroad and is two miles from the Frisco. These are two churches in the town, a Baptist church organ- ized in 1885, and a Catholic church organized in 1896. The town has two general stores, a flour mill, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, brick yard and a feed stable. Its population is 98.
WITTENBERG
Wittenberg, in Perry county, was laid off as a town and incorporated in 1867. It is sit- uated at the mouth of Brazeau creek and as its name indicates is a settlement of German Lutherans. It is a shipping point on the river and is a station on the Frisco from St. Louis to Memphis.
Longtown, an inland village of Perry county, was laid out in 1871. It has a church, school and three stores. Seventy-six is a flour- ishing village on the Frisco with a population of 367. It was for a long time only a ship-
ping point on the river and was called Sev- enty-six Landing. With the construction of the railroad it assumed new importance. It has a flouring mill, stores and churches.
Schumer Springs, a village in Perry county two miles from the line of the Cape Girardeau & Chester Railroad, is a health resort famous for the medicinal character of its waters.
Other villages in the county are Menfro on the Frisco with a population of 365, Union- town, Yount, Frohna and Farrar.
BUNKER
Bunker is a new town on the line between Dent and Reynolds counties. The first settle- ments in the neighborhood of the town were made about 1840, but there was not even a village before 1907. The town was incorpo- rated in 1909 and Dr. J. B. Gordon was the first mayor. It is now a thriving town with eight general stores and one large saw mill. The town is lighted with electric lights and has a population of 106. It is the terminus of the Missouri Southern Railroad which runs from Leeper in Wayne county.
ELLINGTON
Ellington, while not the county seat of Rey- nolds county, is the most important town ex- cept for the transaction of legal business. It is near the center of the county and is on the Missouri Southern Railroad. It is a thriving business community with mills, stores, churches and a good school. There are two banks in the town. The Bank of Ellington was incorporated in 1905 with a capital of $25,- 000 and the Farmers State Bank in 1909. It has a capital of $25,000 also. These amounts show the extent of the interest of the commu- nity. The town is largely supported by tim- ber and farming interests.
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NAYLOR
Naylor is a village in Thomas township in Ripley county. It is on the main line of the Iron Mountain Railroad and is the western terminus of the Doniphan branch. Its pop- ulation is 406. There are two churches, a school and about ten business establishments of various kinds. The Bank of Naylor was chartered in 1903 and has a capital stock of $10,000.
Other villages in Ripley county are Fair- dealing, Ponder, Gatewood, Pine and Poyner.
FLAT RIVER
The largest city in St. Francois county is Flat River. Settlement was made here early in the history of the county and lead mines opened just before the war. The lead inter- ests were not greatly developed until after the building of the Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railroad. The mines were developed rapidly then and they are so extensive and so rieli as to cause the growth of a large com- munity supported in large part by them. There are farming interests also, but they are of much less importance than the mines. The town now has another railroad- the Illinois Southern-which passes through extending between Bismarck and Ste. Gene- vieve. Flat River is the northern terminus of the St. Francois county interurban line. Its transportation facilities are thus unusu- ally good and the prosperity of the town greatly enhanced by them. There are about 100 business establishments including stores, mills, mines, wagon shops and minor estab- lishments. The Bank of Flat River was char- tered in 1907 and has a capital of $15,000. The Miners & Merchants Bank was chartered in 1899 and its capital is also $15,000. The school system is one of the best in this part
of the state. The town is a typical mining community, differing from all others of South- east Missouri outside the Lead Belt.
DESLOGE
DesLoge is an unincorporated village of St. Francois county. It has a large and con- stantly growing population due to its large mining interests, but has never assumed a municipal organization. The Bank of Des- Loge was chartered in 1902 and has a capital of $10,000. The Citizens Bank dates from 1907 and its capital is also $10,000. The town has recently erected a fine new school build- ing, one of the best and most modern in South- east Missouri. It maintains a good system of schools and is a progressive and thriving com- munity.
LEADWOOD
Leadwood is another unincorporated village of the Lead Belt in St. Francois county. Its population is large though no municipal gov- ernment has been organized. The village of Iron Mountain is in Iron township in St. Francois county. It is situated at the foot of Iron Mountain and is fourteen miles southi- west of Farmington. The town is owned in large part by the mining company which owns Iron Mountain. There are stores, churches, a school and a population of 180. At one time it was a large community having more than 1,000 people, but with the cessa- tion for many years of active work on the iron mines the population dwindled away.
ELVINS
Another of the great mining communities is Elvins. It forms practically a part of Flat River, being situated but a little further south and west. It is organized as a separate mu- nicipality, however, and has a population of
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2,071. It depends upon its mines and the rail- road traffic, being situated on two lines of railroad-the Mississippi River & Bonne Terre, and the Illinois Southern. It is reached also by the St. Francois county in- terurban line. The Bank of Elvins was or- ganized in 1900 with a capital stock of $15,- 000.
BONNE TERRE
Bonne Terre is in the northwestern part of St. Francois county abont thirteen miles from
mine of Bonne Terre which had been oper- ated in a very successful manner, passed into the hands of a number of men who organized the St. Joseph Lead Company and began very soon to carry on mining operations on a mueh more extensive scale than formerly. They employed large numbers of men and the town consequently grew rapidly. It was under the direction of this company that the first ex- tensive shafts were sunk in the earth for the obtaining of lead in Southeast Missouri.
The growth of the town and the prospect
IN THE BONNE TERRE LEAD MINING DISTRICT
Farmington. Until after the close of the Civil war it was simply a collection of miners' huts or tents, there having been mining earried on for a number of years. It received its name from the French words meaning "good land," applied to the district because of the fact that lead ore was scattered through the clay of the region and could be obtained by simply wash-
ing. This partieular elay with the lead ore disseminated through it was called "bonne terre." The little village came to have this name and it was retained by the first post- office that they established and still applies to the town. It was in the year 1864 that the Vol. I-25
that it had become an important place in- duced the St. Joseph Lead Company to pro- vide for its wants. They had the town sur- veyed, laying out a number of large lots and wide street's. The policy of the company was to keep all the business in the town practi- cally in their own hands and they were not willing to sell property but followed the plan of leasing it for long periods of years; owing to this restriction and to the further fact that property would not be leased for the carrying on of any business which the company wished to conduet, the large part of the population grew up on the land outside of the town it-
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self. In February, 1883, and in March, 1885, Memorial library. This is a small building, the town was seriously damaged by fire and the Lead Company's works were largely de- stroyed on each of these occasions.
The principal industry of the town is, and has been from the very first, lead mining. The number of persons engaged in this business has made the town a good market for all the produce of the surrounding country. The largest lead smelter in the United States is in Bonne Terre and there are a large number of other business establishments in the town, their number being about a hundred, including banks, flouring and planing mills, brick yards, machine shops, hotels and stores. The town has organizations of the principal secret or- ders and is well supplied with churches, there being Catholic, Congregational, Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal South. The Catholics maintain a school and the pub- lic schools are among the best in this part of the state.
Not only is the city unique among South- east Missouri cities because of its unincorpo- rated condition and lack of municipal govern- ment, more than any other town in the sec- tion it is developing a distinctive character of architecture. There are a number of build- ings which are quite different from those now found in any other of the towns. One of these is the building occupied by the St. Jo- seph Lead Company as a store. It is English in its style, the first story being of brick and the second of frame and plaster. Another building of marked individuality is the Con- gregational church, a new and handsome building of the English style. This church is set in the midst of a beautiful lawn and forms an altogether charming addition to the town. The central school building is also very differ- ent from that of most school buildings. An- other unique and charming building is the
but handsomely constructed and well suited to its purpose. The Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railroad maintains extensive shops and roundhouses here. The population is more than 5,000, though no exact estimate can be made as the place is not incorporated.
BISMARCK
Bismarck, a town at the intersection of the Belmont branch with the main line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway, in St. Francois county, was laid out in 1868 by C. T. Manter, P. R. VanFrank, J. H. Worley and E. H. Cordell. The town was supported by the farming interests about it and pos- sessed some advantages in transportation. Its population is now 848. The principal indus- tries are the stores, hotels and flour mills. In 1877 the town was incorporated by the county court, the first trustees being William H. Gulliver, Benjamin Schoch, C. C. Grider, George H. Kelly and A. H. Tegmeyer. The Bank of Bismarck was organized in 1902 and has a capital of $25,000.
DELASSUS
Delassus is situated two miles west of Farmington on the Belmont branch. It was laid out by A. DeLassus in October, 1869. For many years it was the principal shipping point for both Farmington and Doe Run. It is now connected with Farmington and other towns in the lead belt by interurban railway. It was the residence for many years of A. DeLassus who was a descendant of Lieuten- ant Governor DeLassus.
Seven miles south of DeLassus on the Bel- mont branch is a little town known as Knob Lick. Its importance is due to the fact that it is a shipping point for the granite quarries in this part of St. Francois county. Just
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west of the village of Knob Lick is one of the granite peaks of the St. Francois mountains and here for many years have been quarried large quantities of granite. Some of this granite is worked into paving blocks and some of it into building and monumental blocks of various kinds.
Libertyville is the present name of one of the oldest settlements in St. Francois county. This was Cook's Settlement in the southern part of the county. It is removed from the railroad and has a few general stores and blacksmith shops, flouring mill, church and schoolhouse.
DOE RUN
In 1880 Doe Run, an unincorporated vil- lage in St. Francois county, had not been founded. Its site was the pasture land and orchards. About 1885 lead was discovered in that vicinity, and after prospecting it was found that the region was rich in lead ore. The Doe Run Lead Company was organized and commenced a mine there. They operated a number of shafts and built large reduction works for handling the ore. The mine at- tracted large numbers of settlers and the town grew rapidly. It is the southern terminus of the Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railroad Company and is at a distance of three miles from the Belmont Branch of the Iron Mountain.
ORAN
Oran is in Sylvania township, Scott county, on the Belmont Branch of the Iron Mountain and on the St. Louis & Gulf Branch of the Frisco. The first settlement here was called Sylvania. It was laid out as a town in 1868 and was first called St. Cloud. At a later time it was named Oran. It is on the level sandy ridge just east of the Scott county hills.
There are large deposits of yellow ochre and at one time a paint factory was operated here. It has five general stores, other minor business establishments, large flouring mill, and the Bank of Oran with a capital of $25,- 000. The public school building is a brick structure of eight rooms and is well equipped. The present population of the town is 1,023.
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