A Directory of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets
Past and Present
of Lewis County, Missouri

Compiled by Arthur Paul Moser

[1]

Argola

Argola was located in the southern portion of the county, southwest of Ewing. (--The State of Missouri, in 1904, Walter Williams, 427.)

There is an Arcola in Dade County. (--Standard Reference Guide of Missouri, 1974, Rand, McNally.)

Augusta (obsolete)
Augusta was laid out in 1836 on the northeast quarter of Section 22, Township 63, Range 6. (--History of Lewis County, 1887, 226.)

There is an Augusta in St. Charles County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Benjamin
Benjamin, on Sugar Creek, in Lyons Township, had a post-office, a general store, and was named in honor of Hon. John F. Benjamin, a member of Congress for some years after the Civil War. (--Lewis County, 224.)

It was a post-office seven miles northeast of Monticello. (--Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874, 309.)

It is situated on Section 23, Township 62 N, Range 7 W, northeast of Monticello. (--Gen. Highway Map of Lewis County, issued 8--1-62, by the Missouri State Highway Dept. Unless otherwise noted all map locations are from this map.)

Mail is via Canton -- rural; no population. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Bunker Hill
Bunker Hill was a post-office eight miles north northwest of Monticello. (--Campbell, 309.)

It was situated on Section 12, Township 62 N, Range 8 W in Lyons Township. (--New Atlas of Missouri, 1874, Campbell, Map 13.)

The post-office was discontinued in 1905. (--General Scheme of Missouri, 1905, Taft, 60.)

Bunker Hill is no longer listed in Lewis County; there is a Bunker Hill in Howard County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

[2]

Canton (elevation 485 feet)

The town of Canton is the oldest in the county. It was regularly laid out in the winter of 1830 by Edward White, Robert Sinclair, and Isaac Bland. The plat was filed in the office of the circuit clerk of Marion, to which county this territory then belonged. On the 15th of February, Edward White built the first house, which was used as a tavern...The original plat comprised part of the east half of Section 35, and part of fractional Section 36, Township 62, Range 6.

The records show that Gray's store was in existence in 1836, and that John Carmegy had a grocery in Canton in December following...

The town grew slowly until 1851, the year of the high water. Prior to that date, Tully, a mile north, was the more considerable town, but the flood practically destroyed Tully, and Canton came rapidly into prominence...

Canton was first incorporated as a town by the county court January 28, 1851...The order of incorporation was amended successivly February 28, 1851; ... January 13, 1853; November 4, 1857; November 14, 1857 when the trustees were declared to have the same rights as the mayor and council men of the town of Palmyra; March 20, 1871, when the office of recorder was created and was finally amended when the municipal control was vested in a mayor and board of trustees...(--Lewis County, 213, 214, 215; also, Campbell, 309; Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, 1901, Conard, Vol. I, 482.)

It is situated on Section 26, 35, Township 62 N, Range 6 W east of the junction of 16 & 81 on the Mississippi River.

Deer Ridge
Deer Ridge was a post-office thirteen miles northwest of Monticello. (--Campbell, 309.)

It is situated on Section 4, Township 62 N, Range 9 W on Y east of K.

Mail is via La Belle; no population. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Derrahis
It was in the northeast section of the county near Clark County line. (--Williams, 427.)

The post-office was discontinued prior to 1905. (--Taft, 60.)

Dover
Dover was situated on Section 7, Township 60 N, Range 6 on Z south of C. Dover is no longer listed in Lewis County; there is a Dover in Lafayette County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
[3]

Durham

The little hamlet of Durham was laid out in April, 1872, after the completion of the Q.M. & P.R.R., by Caleb M. Pomeroy and Larkin M. Hunston; Charles Peter, surveyor. The location (southwest quarter of Section 22, and northwest quarter of Section 27, Township 60, Range 7), in the southern part of Highland Township, is unfavorable for the upbuilding of a considerable town, and the greatest importance the place possesses is as a railroad station.

Robert Briscoe and a man named Turner had the first store. They sold to Fred Bringer, who owned the building when it was burned a few years since (as of 1887). W.M. Jackson and B.W. Graham were among the early business men...

It was somewhat noted as a "tie station", a point from which hundreds of railroad ties were annually shipped. (--Lewis County, 223.)

Durham had one general store. (--Campbell, 309.)

It is situated on Section 22, 27, Township 60 N, Range 7 W at the junction of AA & 6.

Egypt
Egypt was situated on Section 20, Township 62 N, Range 8 W in Reddish Township. (--New Atlas of Missouri, Map 13.)

Egypt is no longer listed in Lewis County; there is an Egypt Grove in Howell County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Ewing
Ewing is in the south central portion of the county, on Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City (now B-N) Railway, seven and one-half miles north of Maywood. (--Williams, 427.)

It is situated on Section 7 & 18, Township 60 N, Range 7 W at the junction of C, N, & 6.

Fenway
Fenway is situated on Section 35, Township 63 N, Range 6 W and Section 2, Township 62 N, Range 6 W on 61 south of Clark County line.

Mail is via Canton -- rural; no population. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

[4]

Gilead

Gilead was in the central portion of Highland Township, on the Fabius, and had a good store and a wagon shop. (--Lewis County, 224; see, also, Campbell, 309.)

It was situated on Section 9, Township 60 N, Range 7 W. (--New Atlas of Missouri, Map 13.)

The post-office was discontinued prior to 1905. (--Taft, 60.)

This area is east of Ewing.

Hardin
Hardin was on the M.V. & W. R.R., five miles north of Canton. (--Campbell, 309.)

It was in the northeast corner of the county in Section 17, of Canton Township. (--Map of Missouri, 1894, Rand, McNally.)

Hardin is no longer listed in Lewis County; there is a Hardin in Ray County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Jerusalem (obsolete)
Jerusalem was laid out by Abram Oyster, December 28, 1840. The location was on the northwest quarter of Section 5, and the northeast quarter of Section 6, Township 60, Range 8, half a mile northeast of Troublesome Creek, in what is now the northeastern part of Salem Township. Mr. Oyster planned his city on rather a large scale. He gave the streets names of prominent personages, beginning with Perry Street, which he named, as he said, in his certificate of it, "for Commodore Perry, of the Lake Erie battle", and he further declared that the "above town of Jerusalem...can be extended or enlarged, as may suit the proprietor or inhabitants may desire." If any settlement was ever made at Jerusalem, the facts cannot be here stated. (--Lewis County, 226.)
Kennonsville (obsolete)
In March, 1836, Rev. Joseph Anderson laid off a town which he called Kennonsville, in honor of his friend, Hon. William Kennon, an old time member of Congress from Ohio. The town was located in the south central part of Highland Township (Section 2, Township 60, Range 7), where a considerable settlement had already been made...A number of houses were built in 1836, and the place promised to become a considerable inland town at one time. "Eastman's old store in Kennonsville" is mentioned in the county records in the spring of 1838.
[5]
By an act of the Legislature approved February 1, 1837, the Holstein Female Seminary was chartered at Kennonsville. it had a formidable array of trustees...and "a number of the citizens of the town and vicinity" obtained a donation for the site...Yet the Holstein Female Seminary was never established...

The village contained at one time an extensive tavern, at which the stage coach between La Grange and towns to the westward made regular stoppages. The village dwindled gradually, and eventually the site was vacated by the Legislature in 1861. (--Lewis County, 224, 225.)

La Belle (elevation 740 feet)
The land on which the greater portion of the town of La Belle was built, was entered by Hudson Bourne, prior to 1840. The origin of the town can hardly be accounted for. In the year 1857 William Triplett established a general store in what is now the southeastern part of town, and to him attached the distinction of having been the first actual resident near the present town site. Triplett's location (which was on the northwest corner of the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 4, Township 61, Range 9) was made when the future existence of a town nearby was hardly contemplated, and was really not on the present plat, but about a half mile to the southeast. A man named Heaton owned and had lived on the land comprising the greater part of the town, but near him was a Mr. Robinson...

In about 1858, a post-office was established at Triplett's store and named La Belle ("the beautiful"), perhaps from the natural aspect of the surrounding country. Mr. Triplett was the first postmaster... The town of La Belle was regularly laid out November 1, 1871, by Caleb Pomeroy and others...The numbers of land are given at the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of northwest quarter, and the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 4; also the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter, and the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter, and twenty-six acres on the east side of the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 5, all in Township 61, Range 9. (--Lewis County, 220, 221.)

It is on Highway 6 near the Knox County line. (--Map of Missouri, 1974, Rand McNally.)

La Grange (elevation 485 feet)
The first Caucasian that settled on or near the present site of La Grange was Godfrey Le Seur, a Frenchman, who, during the halcyon days of the Spanish possession (probably in 1795) came up from St. Louis, and established a trading post at the mouth of the Wyaconda. (Some early statements indicate it was in 1816, or soon after the War of 1812, but according to the records, this is incorrect.) How long he remained here is unknown, nor can many details of his settlement be given. The archives at St. Louis show that he was a licensed trader "at the Weacondah, on the upper river", in 1795; and the ruins of four cabins were here, plain to be seen, when John Bozarth came to the county in 1819. It is remarkable that all vestiges of this establishment were not destroyed during the War of 1812.
[6]
In about 1822, some St. Louis speculators projected the town of "Waconda", at the former site of Le Seur's post, but no town was ever built...

John S. Marlow was the first settler on the present site of La Grange. He came in the fall of 1828, and built a cabin on the river, near the lower tobacco works...The next February he entered a tract of land two miles below town. Mr. Marlow died in 1835. The town was laid out by William Wright in 1833...The first merchants were an old Indian trader, named Campbell, and John S. Marlow. The first physician was a Dr. Higgins...

The only frame house in the place was John Carnegy's store; all of the other buildings were log.

In 1853 La Grange was incorporated as "a city". Amendments were made by successive General Assemblies, February 24, 1855, March 4, 1872; February 29, 1872. (--Lewis County, 226, 227, 231.)

A rolling mill for the manufacture of railroad iron was in the course of construction in 1874. (--Campbell, 310. See, also, Conard, Vol. III, 377.)

It is also situated on Section 25, 36, Township 61 N, Range 5 & 6 W on the Mississippi River.

Lewiston
The village of Lewiston was laid out July 1, 1871, during the building of the Q.M. & St. P. R.R., by Caleb Pomeroy and others. The plat (southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter, northeast quarter of the southwest quarter, southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, and northwest quarter of the southeast quarter) of Section 17, Township 61, Range 8, (the central 160 acres of the section) was surveyed by Charles Peters.

The first buildings in the town were erected by William Fible, who put up a store building and a dwelling house. Soon after came Isaac Potter, and established a blacksmith shop. About the same time Grant Burnett opened a small store and boarding house, and Rev. Minter and Marion Zimmerman started a grocery store. A union church was erected by the Baptists, Christians and Southern Methodists, in 1872, at a cost of perhaps, $1,500. (--Lewis County, 222, 223. Campbell, 309, 310.; Conard, Vol. III, 363.)

It is situated on Section 4, 5, Township 61 N, Range 9 W at the junction of D, K & 6, near Knox County line.

[7]

Lewisburg (obsolete)

Lewisburg, on the northwest quarter of Section 1, Township 62, Range 9, was laid out by John Flynn, September 26, 1837, but never built. (--Lewis County, 225.)
Lewiston (elevation 725 feet)
Lewiston, on the B-N Railroad, 26 miles from Quincy, Illinois, and 6 miles southwest of Monticello, was a growing place. Population about 100 (1874). (--Campbell, 310.)

An incorporated town six and one-half miles from Monticello, and twenty-six miles from Quincy, Illinois. It was founded in 1870. It had two churches, a graded school, two banks, a creamery, flouring mill, opera hall and about twenty other business places. Population, 1899 (estimated) 500. (--Conard, Vol. IV, 40.)

It is situated on Section 19, Township 61 N, Range 8 W at the junction of J, 6, & 116.

Lonetree (Lone Tree)
Lone Tree was situated on Section 18, Township 60 N, Range 4 W in Union Township. (--New Atlas of Missouri, Map 13.)

Lone Tree is no longer listed in Lewis County; there is a Lone Tree in Cass County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Maywood
The village of Maywood, on the B-N Railroad, eleven miles west of Quincy, Illinois, was established as a railroad station in 1872. Although it is situated in Lewis County, it is near the Marion County line, and receives trade from both counties...It had a population of perhaps 125. (--Lewis County, 223.)

It contained one store. (--Campbell, 310.)

It is situated on Section 31, 32, Township 60 N, Range 6 W at the junction of V & O.

Midway
Midway was situated on Section 19, Township 62 N, Range 8 W on Y south of Deer Ridge Community Lake.

Midway is no longer listed in Lewis County. There are Midways in Boone, Newton and Putname Counties. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

[8]

Monticello

The town of Monticello was laid out in the fall of 1833, by the authorities appointed to lay out the county seat...

The commissioners "agreed to located on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 6, Township 61, -7...

The town was not surveyed until a year later... The name of the town, which is Italian, and signifies "Little Mountain", is supposed to have been given in honor of the county seat of President Jefferson, although, from the natural situation of the place, it may have been given out of regard for its natural fitness and appropriateness.

The first houses in Monticello were built by William Graves and William P. Richardson, and James H. McBride. The first hotel was by William Ellis...The first school was taught during the winter of 1835 - 36, by a Miss Bradley. In January, 1836, the county court made an order that "so soon as Miss Bradley's school, now being kept in the court-house, is discontinued, the sheriff shall keep the door of said house locked, nor suffer any school to be taught there in the future." The court-house in which the school was taught was the first one in the county. It was a rather small one-story building, with but one small room...The identity of the "Miss Bradley" referred to has not been learned.

For a number of years after the town was laid off it improved considerably. It was the only depot of supplies for a large extent of the county. People came from the Cooper settlement and from other portions of Knox and Scotland to trade. The town, too, was a favorite resort. It was the county seat, the post-office, the trading point and market place for hundreds of pioneers... (--Lewis County, 216, 217, 218. Campbell, 310.)

It was named for the country home of Thomas Jefferson. It had Methodist Episcopal, Baptist and Christian Churches, a bank, two hotels, a weekly newspaper, the "Journal", and about twenty-five other business places, including stores and shops. Population, 1899 (estimated) 350. (--Conard, Vol. V, 466.)

It is situated on Section 6, Township 62 N, Range 7 W at the junction of A & 116, east of Lewiston.

New Court
New Court is located at the east edge of Lewiston, on Section 17, Township 66 N, Range 8 W, at the junction of 6 & 16.

Mail is via Lewiston; population 17. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

[9]

Noll's Block House

In the summer of 1832, during the Black Hawk War there was considerable uneasiness among the settlers in this quarter, especially until after Capt. Mace's and Mudd's militia or "rangers" had gone to the frontier.

In July, before the rangers were sent out, the settlers on the North Fabius built a strong block house for protection and defense against the Indians, should they invade the country.

This structure stood on Martin Noll's claim on Bear Branch, (northeast corner of west half of the southeast quarter of Section 20, Township 61, Range 7), a mile west of the Fabius...The block house was built after the Kentucky pattern. It was made of strong, heavy logs and two stories in height. The lower story was 18 feet square, the upper 22 feet square. The upper projected over the lower, so that the savages could not burn the building without extreme danger and peril; for when they should crawl up to kindle the fire against the building they would be shot through holes in the projecting floor above. This particular fortress was called Noll's Block house, and it is said that 120 persons, men, women and children depended upon it for protection... (--Lewis County, 53, 54.)

Oneida (obsolete)
Oneida, on the Middle Fabius, near Hall's Mill (southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 5, Township 60, Range 7), was laid off in March, 1870. E.W. Cooter was the surveyor. (--Lewis County, 226.)
Oyster
Oyster was situated on Section 3, Township 60 N, Range 8 W in Highland Township. (--New Atlas of Missouri, Map 13.)

See Jerusalem.

Santuzza
Santuzza was in the extreme northeast corner of the county, the first station south of Gregory's Landing, Clark County. (--Map of Missouri, 1903, Geo. P. Crum Company.)
Sellers
Sellers was located in the south central portion of the county, south of Monticello. (--Williams, 427.)

The post-office was discontinued prior to 1905. (--Taft, 60.)

[10]

Sharpsburg

Sharpsburg was in the northwest corner of Salem Township. (--Map of Missouri, 1925, Rand McNally.)
Steffensville
Steffensville, in Salem Township, contained a good store and a group of dwellings. (--Lewis County, 224.)

Steffensville was a post-office 18 miles southwest of Monticello. (--Campbell, 310.)

It is situated on Section 27, Township 60 N, Range 9 W on D south of 156, east of Knox County line, north of Shelby County line.

The population was 75. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Tolona
The little town of Tolona on the B-N Railroad, was regularly laid out on April 1, 1872, by Caleb Pomeroy, Charles E. Bell, L. Eads, and David Bell. Its location on parts of Sections 35 and 36, Township 61, Range 8, is in the northwest part of Highland Township. It has never been able to rise above the dignity possessed by a country railway station, with a depot, one or two stores, a blacksmith shop and a dozen houses. (--Lewis County, 224.)

It is 22 miels northwest of Quincy, Illinois. (--Campbell, 310.)

It is located on Highway 6, northwest of Ewing.

Mail is via Lewiston -- rural; no population. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Tully (obsolete)
The town of Tully was laid out by Thomas Gray, Thomas C. Rutherford and Jacob Myers, November 20, 1834. It stood on the Mississippi, and at one time was a town of more importance than Canton, which it adjoins immediately on the north.

The first house was built by Jacob Myers...The first store was kept by Thomas Gray. The county records show that William Gray had a grocery here in December, 1836. John Nelson another in May, 1837, and that Humert & Tate were merchants in December of the latter year. Tully was regularly incorporated as a town November 15, 1842...The town had a considerable trade for a number of years. It had a fine steamboat landing, and was the point to which merchandise was shipped from St. Louis and other marts for the country west and northwest. From time to time, however, it was injured by the river floods, and at last the memorable high water of 1851 almost totally destroyed it. One or two of the original houses were still standing in 1887. (--Lewis County, 224.)

See Canton.

[11]

Waconda

When the first settlers came, the old cabins of Le Seur's trading post, at the mouth of the Wyaconda, were still standing, but in a dilapidated condition. Le Seur himself had abandoned the country. The Bozarths* often related that some of the buildings seemed to have been built twenty years or more, as their roofs of bark and clay had settled and fallen in. The old settlers believed that there had been a considerable number of dwellings and inhabitants here at one time, but this is not probable. It may be true, however, that the first cabins were built by French or Spanish traders, prior to the year 1800.

In about 1820, John McKinney (or Kinney as he was often called) built a mill on the Waconda, near the mouth. Soon after a town was laid out nearby and called "Waconda". Of this Beck's "Gazetteer" written in 1822 and published in 1823, says, "Waconda (is) a town recently laid out at the confluence of Waconda Creek with the Mississippi. The site is a regular unbroken eminence, with a sub-stratum of limestone, forming on the river natural piers or wharves for the accommodation of river craft. It possesses many local advantages, and is probably destined to become a considerable town... A saw and grist mill are already in operation here, and other improvements are progressing. Waconda is 120 miles in a right line north of St. Louis, and 190 by the meanders of the river, and about 100 from (Old) Franklin, on the Missouri."

Notwithstanding its advantages of situation, as truthfully stated by Dr. Beck, the town of "Waconda" did not realize the measure of his prediction, and never became a "considerable commercial town", or a town of any sort. If it contained more than three houses, including McKinney's mill and dwellings, the fact cannot be stated. The mill was soon washed away, and in 1832 the town of La Grange just below, was established. (--Lewis County, 28.)

* The original family name of the Bozarths was Bosworth, which is sometimes pronounced Bosorth, whence comes Bozarth. The name is now (1887) called Boster, and it may thus be written in time. (--Lewis County, 21.)

Weber
Weber was located in the southeast section of the county, near North Fabius River. (--Williams, 427.)

Weber is no longer listed in Lewis County; there is a Weber Hill in Jefferson County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

[12]

Williamstown

The village of Williamstown was laid off by Minus Williams, September 29, 1836. The site -- on the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 21, Township 63, Range 8.

When the Civil War came on the place was a little more than a small hamlet, with but one or two stores, and perhaps a dozen houses... One of the institutions connected with the village, and which has gained much favorable notoriety, is the Williamstown Fair Association...

Williamstown is appropriately located for the purpose of the association, and the fairs were patronized by spectators and exhibits from the counties of Lewis, Knox, Clark and Scotland, and even from localities more remote... (--Lewis County, 219, 220.)

It had one hotel, five stores, and one wagon shop. (--Campbell, 310.)

It is ten miles northeast of Monticello. It had two churches, a school, hotel, grist mill and about fifteen stores and shops of all kinds. Population, 1899, (estimated) 200. (--Conard, Vol. VI, 418.)

It is situated on Section 28, Township 63 N, Range 8 W at the junction of A & E near Clark County line.


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