Springfield-Greene
County LibraryCompiled by Arthur Paul Moser
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Amazonia (elevation 830 feet)
About the year 1840, one Charles Caples, a native of Ohio, came to the county and made a settlement on the One-Hundred-and-Two River, several miles northeast of Amazonia, where he was engaged in the mercantile business, being one of the first merchants in the southern part of the county. Disposing of his original location, Mr. Caples, in 1842, purchased a large tract of land on the Missouri River, upon which, a little later, he and a brother, William Caples, platted and laid out a town called Nodaway City, which early became an important shipping and distributing point. The original plan of Nodaway City, which joins Amazonia on the east, lies in Sec. 36, Twp. 50 N, R. 36 W, and includes about 200 lots...and filed for record on the 1st of May, 1849. (--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 171, 172.)
Amazonia (the new town)
In 1857, P. S. Roberts, Joshua Bond, J. M. Copeland, G. W. Lankford, Peter Moser and several others, purchased 152 acres of land adjoining the original plat on the northwest, for the purpose of laying out a new town, to be known by the name of Amazonia...This was accomplished on June 20, 1857...Within a short time after the survey the lots were offered for sale...The first building on the town site was a business house erected by a Mr. Riley, on Lot 16, Block 43, sometime in the year 1857.
Messrs. Roberts & Miller erected a store building in Block 43, in 1858...Several other business houses as well as flouring mills, and a cooperage plant were built from time to time. A small distillery was operated by Casper Hunnsinger about 1865...
Amazonia was incorporated as a town about the year 1878 or 1879...Dissatisfaction, however, soon manifested itself, and it was finally decided to abolish the corporation, which was accordingly done in the year 1882... (--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 174, 175, 176, 178.)
It is situated at the junction of Highways T & K. (--General Highway Map of Andrew County, issued by the State Highway Department of Missouri, 2-1-60. Unless otherwise noted all map locations are from this map.)
Avenue City
This small hamlet on One-Hundred-and-Two River, in Jefferson Township is the place where one of the first mills in the southern part of Andrew County was built. The land was originally purchased by Lytle Hughes, who, in a very early day, erected a mill, which for a number of years, was the chief source of supplies for the settlers of the county. The mill subsequently passed into the hands of Newton Bird...
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Later a large bridge was constructed across the river at this point, and within a short time thereafter, Mr. Bird employed a surveyor, and had a town plat laid out in Sec. 6, Twp. 58 N, R. 34 W, to which the name Avenue City was given, bearing date of April 28, 1882. A store was started soon after, and in due time a hotel, drug store and blacksmith shop were numbered among the business interests of the place...(--History of Andrew and KeKalb Counties, p. 215.)It is situated at Sec. 6 & 7, Twp. 58 N, R. 34 W at the junction of D & 169.
Mail via St. Joseph (rural); no population shown. (--Rand, McNally Standard Ref. Guide of MO., 1974.)
Bolckow (elevation 930 feet)
Bolckow is situated in the northern part of Andrew County, twenty-six miles north of St. Joseph, fifteen miles north of Savannah, thirty miles south of the Missouri and Iowa State line.In the year 1868 the Platte County R. R., now the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs R. R., was projected as far north as Maryville, Nodaway County, and completed to that point the following spring. In order to secure a station on said road, Benjamin A. Conrad and John Anderson, on the 1st of December, 1868, had surveyed and platted a town site of 30 acres on the southwest corner of Sec. 2, southeast corner of Sec. 3, northeast corner of Sec. 10, and northwest corner of Sec. 11, Twp. 61 N, R. 35 W, which was recorded under the name of St. John...
This plan was on the 30th of December, of the same year, revised and enlarged by Joseph E. Schweppel and others, and the name of Bolckow was adopted in honor of an English gentleman connected in some capacity with the railroad...
The first store was opened by Rev. Mr. Hopkins...Bolckow was incorporated as a town in 1878... (--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 185, 196, 197.)
It is situated at Secs. 3, 10, 2 & 11, Twp. 61 N, R. 35 W, at the junction of N & B, near Nodaway County line.
Boston
See Nodaway City.There is a Boston in Barton County(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Castle
Castle was a post-office ten miles southeast of Savannah. (--Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874, p. 41.)It is no longer listed.
Castle Rock--Jasper County, a part of Joplin.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
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Cawood
Cawood is situated at Sec. 5 & 8, Twp. 61 N, R. 34 W at the junction of Highways N & B.Mail via Bolckow--rural; no population shown.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.
Cosby (elevation 810 feet)
Like Helena this town is an outgrowth of the St. Joseph & Des Moines Narrow Gauge Railway and dates its history from the year 1882. The original town was laid out on the 27th of April, 1882, and included about ten acres of land in Sec. 1, Twp. 58 N, R. 34 W, one mile east of the present town site. It was surveyed by Judge E. S. Castle for William Moberly, proprietor...Mr. Moberly was appointed station agent at the new town, and shortly after...he erected a store building and engaged in the goods business which he carried on for some time in connection with the blacksmith trade. Other stores were opened from time to time. In 1885 the narrow gauge was purchased by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, and one of the first changes which followed was the straightening of the line and widening of the track to a standard gauge. When this was accomplished the inhabitants of Cosby...found their little town one mile from the railroad and at once were advised to obtain a new town site and secure a station. On the 9th of November, 1885, a new town was platted in Secs. 2 & 11, Twp. 58 N, R 4 W, and recorded...The majority of the lots were purchased by the citizens of the village, who immediately began moving their business houses, residences, etc. to the new village...The first house in the new town was the store building of Strock & Co., and the second house was moved from the original village by John Augustine...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 123, 214.)It is situated at Secs. 2 & 11, Twp. 58 N, R 34 W on Highway O west of Z.
Country Club Village
It is situated on the southern edge of the county on Buchanan County line, at Sec. 21 & 22, Twp. 58 N, R 35 W at the junction of 59 & 71.Mail via St. Joseph.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Dean
Dean is east of Amazonia on the Chicago, Great Western R. R. (--Map of Missouri, 1911, Rand, McNally.)It has no population.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
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Elizabeth Town
Adjoining the present (1888) site of Amazonia on the northwest was laid out a small village as early as 1850 or 1851, by the name of Elizabeth Town, the plat of which was never recorded. A store was started about the same time by Messrs Perry & Young, who, in addition to carrying on the mercantile business, operated a warehouse on the river. A landing was established early in the 1850's and the place and the village became a rival of Boston in the river trade. After a short time the above fiRand, McNally, 1974 sold out to John Sanders. Mr. Sanders increased the stock...He afterward closed out and started the Sanders House in St. Joseph. Elizabeth Town continued to be a landing and shipping point until the "cut-off" several years ago, (from 1888) which left the place over a mile from the river. At this time (1888) one dismantled building, upon which a general decay has fastened itself, is all that remains to mark the site of the village...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, p. 179.)It is no longer listed.
Empire City
Empire City, a paper town in the northeastern part of the county, was laid out in October, 1869, by E. C. Fry. The town occupied a part of the northwestern quarter of the northeast quarter of Sec. 22, Twp. 61 N, R. 33 W and consisted of six blocks...There was also a post-office and a small store at the place.(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, p. 216.)It is no longer listed.
Empire Prairie
It is situated at Sec. 20, Twp. 61 N, R 33 W, on BB north of 48.Mail via King City and Rea; no population shown.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Fillmore
Fillmore is situated in Jackson Township, fifteen miles northwest of Savannah. One of the first white men to penetrate this part of the county was James Templer...Other settlers soon made their way to this area, and a settlement sprang up...The remoteness of this settlement from a market place soon showed the necessity of a local trading point. Accordingly, as early as 1845, a town was projected and regularly laid out by Levi Churchill and others, to which the name of New Ark was given...Among the first purchasers of lots was G. W. Baker, who erected a small store building on Main Street...The first hotel in Fillmore was kept by Jefferson Griffith...Several additions were made from time to time, and the name of the village was officially changed from New Ark to Fillmore.
Fillmore was incorporated as a town by act of the County Court bearing date of November 8, 1873...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 185, 186, 187, 188.)
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It is situated at Secs. 7, 8, 17 & 18, Twp. 60 N, R 36 W at the junction of A & H.
Flag Springs
This is a small village in Empire Township, so named on account of a large and never failing spring of pure water in the vicinity, and is the site of one of the oldest permanent settlements in the northeast corner of Andrews County. The present site of the village was settled as early as 1840 or 1841 by Marshall McQuinn and a Mr. Gaddy.About the year 1858, R. W. Shepherd erected a store building near the springs...A steam mill was erected in 1860 by George Bell, who subsequently sold out to John White. The latter...added machinery for grinding corn, and for three years carried on a very substantial business manufacturing large quantities of lumber...
Eventually the mill was sold to the Laney brothers who, in about the year 1867 or 1868, erected a large frame woolen-mill, in the construction of which a part of the saw mill machinery was used...In 1861, a cheese factory was started in the building by Moore & Company...This was one of the largest cheese factories in this part of the state, the daily output being about 800 pounds...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 204, 205, 206.)
It is situated at Secs. 12 & 13, Twp. 60 N, R. 33 W on Highway AA west of M.
Mail via Union Star. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Helena
Helena...owes its existence to the construction of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R...In August, 1878, H. C. Webster and Henry Snowden, who had previously purchased the site, employed a surveyor, and laid out a plat of fifteen blocks--192 lots--on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Sec. 19, Twp. 59 N, R 33 W. This was scarcely accomplished before businessmen and mechanics were attracted to the place, the nearest shipping towns being the towns of Stewartville (DeKalb County) and Easton (Buchanan County), on the Hannibal R. R...In order to secure a station Mr. Webster donated half the town site to the railroad company...The first improvements in the new town were made in 1879 by William Coy, who purchased Lot 4, Block 7, upon which he erected a residence and business house...A feed mill was erected in 1885 by L. R. Bond...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 210, 211.)
It is situated at the junction of F & V.
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Jamestown
One of the first settlements in Andrew County was made in the southern part of what is now Jefferson Township, where, as early as 1839, a small village sprang into existence by the name of Jamestown. It was merely the outgrowth of the neighborhood demand for a trading point, and first came into prominence on account of a couple of general stores and a post-office established in the above year or 1840. Ozio Castle was one of the early merchants of the place...Until the location of the county seat Jamestown was the principal business in successful operation, besides the usual number of mechanics and artisans usually found in country villages...
The first settlers of the place located upon unsurveyed government land, and after the same came into market, subject to entry, it was found that nearly all the houses in the village stood on land entered by one Willis Gaines, who claimed the improvements as he had a right to do. This caused considerable ill feeling on the part of the residents of the village...It was no difficult matter for them to abandon their temporary habitations, and drift to other localities. The businessmen of the place soon closed out or removed their goods to other points, the buildings gradually disappeared, and within a few years, nothing but a cultivated field remained to mark the site of the once flourishing village...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, p. 146.)
There is a Jamestown in Moniteau County.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Kodiak
Kodiak was situated at Sec. 7, Twp. 59 N, R 34 W on Highway D north of E, northeast of Savannah.It is no longer listed.
Long Corner
Long Corner was in the northwest corner of the county, at Sec. 1, Twp. 61 N, R 37 W on Highway Y south of the Nodaway County line.It is no longer listed.
Midway
Nudway was near Nodaway County line, at Secs. 5 & 8, Twp. 61 N, R 35 W on Highway 71.It is no longer listed.
There is a Midway in Boone, Newton and Putnam Counties. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
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Mordeau
Mordeau was situated northwest of Amazonia, at Sec. 35, Twp. 59 N, R. 36 W, on Highway T.
New Ark
See Fillmore.
Nida
Nida was southeast of Fillmore.(--Map of Missouri, 1911, Rand, McNally.)It is no longer listed.
Nodaway City
See Amazonia.The first building was a storehouse, erected in the east of town by Mr. Caples...He next built a warehouse on the bank of the river, from which he shipped large quantities of produce and hemp...
From the outstart the town attracted considerable attention as a shipping point, and as early as 1843 several prominent businessmen and capitalists among whom were a Mr. Smith and Robert Donald, offered to purchase the town plat for $3,000. This offer was refused, Mr. Caple intimating that it would take a larger sum of money to induce him to dispose of the site...
The gentlemen referred to soon invested their capital in real estate at St. Joseph, then a mere steam boat landing, the rapid growth of which in a few years proved a death blow to Nodaway City...
Several warehouses were constructed in Nodaway City, and all the goods for Savannah, Fillmore, Maryville, Bedford, Hawleyville, and other points in Northwest Missouri and Southern Iowa were landed at this point...
The superior facilities for transportation offered by the railroads proved disastrous to the river trade, in consequence of which the warehouses were soon closed...
In the year 1851 the name of the town was officially changed to Boston, to correspond to the name of the post-office which had been established some time previous under that name...
Among the early merchants of the town was O. H. P. Throughman, who opened a general store in 1851...David Cramer sold goods from 1854 to 1855, and in an early day one Porter D. Roberts began the manufacture of pottery ware, which he carried on with fair success for about eight years...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 171, 172, 173.)
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Nodaway Station
Nodaway Station, on the K.C., ST.J. & C. B. R. R., is a small country village in the southern part of Lincoln Township. It was a prominent shipping point...and was also a good trading point...At that time (1885), there was one general store kept by Shellenberger, and a drug store by Dr. Gleeves. The village was never regularly platted, and was merely the outgrowth of the neighborhood's demand for a trading and shipping point.(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, p. 215.)It is situated at Sec. 20, Twp. 59 N, R. 36 W in the southwestern corner of the county.
Mail via Amazonia.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Parker
Parker was the name of a country post-office in the northwestern part of Clay Township. The location was remote from any town and a business house was established for the accommodation of neighbors, who found it inconvenient to to go Fillmore, Savannah and other distant points to do their trading. A store was operated by Messrs. Farris & Debord...There was also a drug store in the place and a blacksmith shop.(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, p. 216.)It is no longer listed.
Penseno's Landing
See Rialto.
Rea (elevation 1070 feet)
Rea is west of Whitesville at Sec. 29, Twp. 61 N, R 34 W on Highway 48 west of N.Population 54. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Rochester
This town, on the site of one of the earliest settlements in the eastern part of Andrew County, is situated on the Platte River and dates its existence from early in the 1840's...Prior to the organization of the county, early pioneers settled near the present site of the town...They were followed a little bit later by other home seekers...Eventually the town site came into the possession of one Leon Thatcher. He subsequently sold out to a Mrs. Kibby (also spelled Kibbey), whose sone, about the year 1842 or 1843, erected a saw and grist mill on the Platte, which, in time, became the nucleus of a very flourishing settlement...
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In the meantime the influx of the population continued such that the necessity for a trading point nearer than Savannah became apparent. Accordingly James Barnes, in June, 1848, laid off a town plat of ten blocks -- sixty lots -- which was recorded under the name of New Rochester...One of the earliest merchants was a man by the name of Stone...The first manufacturing enterprise of Rochester was the Kibbey saw and flouring mill already alluded to...Rochester was first incorporated in the year 1857...It caused a great deal of dissatisfaction owing to the expense involved and it was soon abandoned. In 1872, another attempt at incorporation was successful...At the end of ten years the corporation died a natural death and no attempt has been made to resurrect it.
The fire of 1885, and the springing up one later of the town of Helena on the railroad only ten miles distant appears to have proved the death blow of Rochester's future prospects, and since then the village has been gradually losing its former prestige...
In 1888 there were two general stores, one restaurant, hotel, livery stable, two blacksmiths, one cabinet maker, one wagon maker, one shoe-maker, one barber and one physician...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 179, 180, 184, 185.)
It is situated at Sec. 23, Twp. 59 N, R. 34 W at the junction of Highways 169 & V.
Mail via Helena; population 45. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Rosendale (elevation 910 feet)
Rosendale...is the site of one of the oldest settlements in the northern part of Andrew County in Benton Township...The land upon which the village stands was pre-empted early in the 1840's by one Sylvester Lanham and by him sold in 1846 to Bethel Allen, who, with son, William Allen, shortly afterwards built a saw mill near the village site on the One-Hundred-and-Two River...Prior to the completion of the railroad through the northern part of the county, Rosendale was a mere hamlet of perhaps a half dozen houses...After the completion of the railroad in 1869, John G. Greenluck platted the town. The first survey was made in April of the above year, and consisted of a plat of forty lots situated on the west half of the southwest quarter of Sec. 35, Twp. 61 N, R. 35 W, one half of which was donated to the railroad company in May, 1870, for the purpose of securing a depot...A short time prior to the completion of the road, Messrs. Gilchrist and Muer engaged in merchandising in the town...The town was incorporated in May, 1874...
The first mill in Rosendale was torn down and rebuilt in 1874...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 207, 208, 209.)
It is situated on Highway 48 east of N.
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Rush
Rush was south of Wyeth on Chicago, Great Western R. R.(--Map of Missouri, 1911, Rand, McNally.)It is no longer listed.
Rush Hill: Audrain County; Rush Tower: Jefferson County; Rushville: Buchanan and Dallas Counties.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
St. John
See Bolckow.
Savannah (elevation 1100 feet)
The history of Savannah proper dates from the year 1841, at which the town site was selected for the permanent seat of justice by the commissioners named in the legislative act creating Andrew County. These commissioners were Harlow Hunkston, Elijah P. Howell and Elijah Armstrong, who made a formal report of their proceedings at the April term of the County Court, in 1841, to the effect that they had carefully examined the location, and, finding it to be within three miles of the geographical center of the county, had fixed upon it as the most eligible site for the seat of justice. After making their selection they gave to the prospective town the name of Union, which was officially changed at the July term, and the name Savannah substituted. The original town site including 160 acres on the southeast quarter Section 9, Township 59 N, Range 35, was entered in the name of Andrew County, by Edwin Toole, a short time after the county organization went into effect...One of the first houses on the town-site was erected by Johnson Woods...It was a small round log structure and answered the two-fold purpose of a dwelling and boarding house...
From the best information, one of the first if not the first houses in Savannah was a small structure, erected by John Riggins...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, p. 149.)
It is situated at Secs. 8, 9, 10 & 14, Twp. 59 N, R. 35 W at the junction of E & 71.
Union
See Savannah.
Whitesville
The village of Whitesville is situated on the Platte River, in Platte Township, and dates its existence from August, 1848, at which time the original town plat consisting of seventeen lots was laid out by Lyman Hunt and John D. White. Messrs. Hunt and White, about that time, or perhaps a year earlier, purchased the land for a mill site, and, after erecting a large mill--flouring--on the river were induced to lay out a town...A man by the name of Pallock was an early merchant, engaging in the business prior to 1856...
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Dr. A. D. Samples was the first practicing physician in the town...A cheese factory was started about the year 1882 or 188s...(--History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, pp. 202, 203.)Mail via Rea.(--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Wyeth (Wythe)
Wythe is situated at the junction of Highways 10 & 11, Twp. 60 N, R. 35 W, on C south of 48.