Springfield-Greene
County LibraryM - Z
A station on the Mo. Pac. R. R., south of Neelyville. The name is a coinage from the surnames of two men in the Poplar Bluff office of the railroad company: Maintenance of Way Clerk, T. Clarence Maddox and Chief Clerk, G. R. Mabie. It was made, Mr. Maddox writes, by taking the first three letters of his name and adding the last two of Mr. Mabie's. (--Place Names.)Maries
The name is found on Mitchell's map, 1886. Apparently it was near the present location of Qulin (q. v.), near Menorkenut Slough. Parker, 1865, Campbell, 1873, and Rand, McNally give the name as Mariesville, and it appears to be near the site of Broseley (q. v.). No one has been found who knows anything of the name. It could be taken from the feminine name "Mary" or "Marie", but it is more probable that it is the Anglicized form of the French term "marais", meaning swamp. cf. "Marais Croche" Crooked Swamp or Lake, from its shape, in St. Charles Co., and the name of Maries County, originally marais for which see Mr. Weber's Thesis (Commonwealth of Mo., 173). (Mr. Weber is not identified). (--Place Names.)Mariesville
See Maries. (--Place Names.)Marshall
A lost mill camp on the old Parker R. R., south of Lowell Junction. Named for John B. Marshall, who was a grist saw mill man in the vicinity. (Map 1910). (--Place Names.)Massey Switch
During the 1880's, a logging camp was established 3-1/2 miles north of Harviell (q. v.) in a large Cypress brake, where logs for piling were shipped out on the Mo. Pac. R. R. The name was given for a family of loggers living there. (--Place Names.)
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MellvilleA mill village, at what is now Qulin, on the Palmer R. R. Named by Charles Langlotz, railroad engineer, for Lowell Mellville Palmer. See Palmer Plant. When a post-office was established, the Postal Authorities refused the name because it would be a duplication and accepted Qulin, which was the name of a school 3 miles southwest of the village. (--Place Names.)MedonsaNOTE: There was a Mellville in Dade County (which later became Dadeville), and Mellville in Wright County, which was a post-office 22 miles northeast of Harville. (--Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874, pp. 24, 182 & 650.)
An abandoned mill camp and station on the Mo. Pac. R. R., 2 miles east of Neelyville. The mill was set up during the timber days, in the early 1880's by a Canadian, possibly of this name. (Map 1910). (--Place Names.)Mengel
A logging station at the head of navigation on Black River, where the Mo. Pac. R. R. now crosses the river. During the 1880's John Mengel, Sr. (who died in 1892) and sons owned a large tract of land near by from which they floated logs to the mills near Poplar Bluff. (--Place Names.)Mengo
It was between Poplar Bluff and Hilliard. (--Map of Western States, 1911, Rand, McNally & Co.)Menorkenut
It was south of Hicoria. (--Map of Western States, 1911, Rand, McNally & Co.)
Military Road (Butler and Ripley Counties)
It is a part of one of the most famous trails, the Natchitoches Path (q. v.). Dr. Hohn R. Hume wrote as quoted in Missouri Historical Review, Vol. 24, p. 613: "One of the oldest and most interesting roads in the Middle West, because it is woven into the warp and woof of our pioneer life in such a way as to make it inseparable from our national history." Houck wrote: "After the settlement of the county, the Natchitoches Path became the military and wagon road of the immigrants moving into Arkansas, crossing the Mississippi River at Bainbridge or Cape Girardeau, thence moving to the St. Francois River, crossing the same at Indian Ford, thence to Black River, there crossing near Poplar Bluff and then Current River at what was long known as "Pittman's Ferry". Tradition says it was along this road that the Kittrell's (cf. Kittrell Store in Butler Co., and Kittrell's Mill in Ripley Co.) came, and that it was along this trail that under President Jackson's command was cut out the road over which the U. S. moved the Indians in 1838-39 (cf. Indian Ford in Ripley Co.).
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Older settlers mention the road in connection with General Price and his army during the Civil War and point out occasional insulators in the Cane Creek community, where wires were extended by him for sending messages (cf. Reeves Station in Butler Co., and Battle Hollow in Ripley Co.).Col. Wm. Marks of West Plains, who remembered the Cherokee Indians in Alabama, wrote that his father, James Marks, who with his family came from Alabama, and located first in Fulton Co., Arkansas (later came to Howell Co.), "came by way of Jackson, Missouri, traveled the Old Military Road made by the government troops in removing the Cherokee Indians from the State of Alabama to this present location." He further states that it was the only road leading west.
The Missouri Cash Book, Aug. 6, 1936, has an interesting article on the removal of the Cherokee Indians from North and South Carolina, East Tennessee, North Georgia, and North Alabama, to Arkansas, and Indian Territory. The writer explains that in 1817 some of the dissatisfied Cherokees traded their rights for lands west of the Mississippi along the upper branches of Red and White Rivers. They located in northwest Arkansas. Then in 1838-39, because of the encroachments of the Whites, the other branch of the Cherokees, by a treaty of 1835, were moved by military force from their old home to the Cherokee Reservation (now in Oklahoma), where those of Arkansas joined them. Dr. Hume also mentions an old trail leading from Sun Flower Landing on the Mississippi River across the canebrakes to White River and up the river to the now famous Cherokee Bay and northward. These statements add weight to the local reports that a portion of the Military Road in Butler and Ripley Counties was also known as the Cherokee Bay Road (q. v.).
Some of the oldest settlers interviewed spoke of the country about Corning, Arkansas, as the Cherokee Bay section. It seems quite certain that both names, the Military Road and Cherokee Bay Road, derive their names from these Indians; the first for their forced removal, the latter for the early settlement in Arkansas. (--Place Names.)
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Missouri Pacific RailroadOn March 10, 1849, a charter was granted to a St. Louis company to construct a railroad west across Missouri. The contract to built the road was let, and on July 4, 1850, a multitude met on the south bank of Chouteau's Pond, west of Fifteenth Street, whence Luther M. Kennett, mayor of St. Louis, removed the first spadeful of earth. The first locomotive, "The Pacific", ran out to Manchester Road in November, 1852. Later this company became owner of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern Railway, and the latter's name became the Missouri Pacific Railroad. This company now owns all the railroads in these five counties except those owned by the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company. (--Place Names.)Morocco
A workman's camp and later a railroad village, established 3 miles southeast of Poplar Bluff, when the B. C. R. R. was under construction. As most of the work was done by Negroes, many of whom lived near by, the name of the African country was given to it. Some of the workmen remained as farmers, and the settlement came to be called "Nigger Town." Wm. D. Martin, colored, explained that they had to go to Holley's Mill (q. v.) to board the train so they (the colored people living near by) "got after Mr. Barron to get a stop and we named it for Morocco."(--Place Names.)Miffitville
It was located at Section 13, Township 23 N, Range 7 E, southwest from Qulin, on Highway N.
Natchitoches Path (Butler and Ripley Counties)
An old Indian trail on the south side of the Mississippi River, starting from near the present site of Cape Girardeau, and diverging "southwest to Natchitoches, one of the ancient Spanish ports of Mexico now in Louisiana". Houck (II, 104) says it crossed the St. Francis River at "Indian Ford". By his map (I. 227) the Indian Ford is unquestionably the one later called William's Ferry (q. v.) and Pollard's Ferry (q. v.), for the trail is shown as crossing Butler County from the extreme northeast corner in a southwestern direction northwest of Poplar Bluff, and across the southeast corner of Ripley County into Arkansas. Later known as Military Road (q. v.). It leads into Natchitoches, on Red River, an old French mission town, founded in 1714. It is now the seat of Natchitoches Parish. Its origin is that of an Indian tribe, the Natchez along the lower Mississippi River and westward. (--Place Names.)
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NeelyvilleA small town in Neely Township, on the Mo. Pac. R. R. Established by the railroad officials and named for a landowner, Obadiah Neely. In 1910 the Postal authorities shortened the earlier spelling, "Neelysville." (Estab. 1872). (--Place Names.)NeelysvilleIt is 16 miles south of Poplar Bluff, and had 1 store and 1 saw mill, in 1874. (--Gazetteer of Missouri, p. 85.)
It is located at 5-1/2 miles north of Missouri-Arkansas line, and is on Section 15, 10, Township 22 N, Range 5 E, at the junction of Highways 142 & 67. (--General Highway Map of Butler Co., and The State of Missouri, in 1904, p. 339.)
See Neelyville. (--Place Names.)Nentrup Store
Mrs. Rose Nentrup explained that she established the small general store and filling station at the junction of Highways 51 & 53 northwest of Qulin in 1928. (--Place Names.)Nickey Bridge
Nickey Bridge spans Cane Creek on Highway 60 near Harviell Store (q. v.). Named for an old family who owned the land and built the finest rural home in Butler Co. at that time. The son, E. C. Nickey, who died recently (from 1945) in California, was for a number of years the county engineer for Butler Co. A portion of the creek here was long used by Bethel Church for its baptistery and the wooded banks have long been popular for picnics and fishing parties. (--Place Names.)Nigger Town
See Morocco. (--Place Names.)Pine Ridge Camp
A tourist camp with cabins, lunch room, and a filling station on Highway 60, 8 miles northwest of Poplar Bluff. It was built in June, 1926, by D. R. Scott on his farm, which was the homestead of Lemuel Mills on the old Military Road (q. v.). Legend says that soldiers were camped here during the Civil War and that there are three soldiers buried there somewhere. The name was given for the topography and pine trees. (--Place Names.)
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NyeA later name for the post-office in the vicinity of Ash Hills (q. v.). One informant thought it was so near Inlow (q. v.), that Nye, a corrupt spelling for "nigh", would be an appropriate name. Mr. and Mrs. John Martin explained that the name was given by the Post Office Department. This is a good example of how the early post-offices, kept at mills, in home or small country stores, changed names. Here Ash Hill came to be Inlow, which was later Nye. Doubtless the rural mail route from Poplar Bluff was established about 1918 when Nye was discontinued. (--Place Names.)NyssaIt was 3 miles west of Fisk and 7 miles north of Batesville. (--The State of Missouri, in 1904, p. 339.)
A station and timber village 3 miles south of Broseley, on the old B. C. R. R. It is the botanical generic name of Greek derivation, for Tupelo gum, which was given by Mr. Barron and Charles Langlotz, because that species of gum grew abundantly and to a very large size in southeast Butler Co., and neighboring localities. Only a church house remains to mark the place. (--Place Names.)Nyssa SwitchIt was located at Section 18, Township 23 N, Range 8 E, on Highway 51.
Another name for Nyssa. (--Place Names.)Oglesville
Mr. Louis Nogle, a large land owner, has a store and filling station southeast of Qulin. His home and a General Baptist Church organized in 1932 by Rev. W. M. Margus are near the store. The church took the name of the store. (--Place Names.)Oil Well Supply Mill
Another name for Hickory Mill (q. v.). (--Place Names.)Old Batesville
See Batesville. (--Place Names.)
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OsburnOsburn was located at Section 4, Township 23 N, Range 8 E, on Highway 53, near the Dunklin County Line.Otter Lake
See Otter Pond. (--Place Names.)Otter Pond
A mill village or camp on a short branch of the B. C. R. R., extending from Rossville Spur (q. v.) and named for the small lake near by which was the habitat of otters in the hunting days. Mr. Deem explained that there were many ponds or lakes where otters were found in the southern part of Butler Co. (--Place Names.)Park
An abandoned lumber village and post-office in Neely Township on the Frisco R. R. About 1908, John and Barnes Park, brothers and land owners in the vicinity, set up a saw mill there. (--Place Names.)Phillips Store
Mr. Harvey Phillips explained that in December, 1934, he established a small store in one room of his home on Qulin mail route one. (--Place Names.)Pin Hook
A name given to the first saw mill camp in Ten Mile Community. The mill was operated by S. D. Author and D. Livingston, during the early 1880's. Dr. John Evdalay said it was named by W. R. Minx, but the reason was not found. It is possible that it is a derivative name for small or something for play. Fifty years ago, and no doubt, long before that time, one amusement for children along the small streams was "to go fishing", with pin hooks made from large dress pins or hair pins. It was great fun to catch the minnows ("topwaters") as they played about the streams. Possibly a bend in the stream near by, a "hair pin" bend or "pin hook" gave rise to the name, but the exact origin must remain for the present, to be solved later. Cf. Pin Hook in Pettis County, the original name of the first county seat, later changed to St. Helena, now Helena. Mrs. Overlay states in her thesis that it was borrowed from one of three places named Pin Hook in Tenn. (--Place Names.)
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PlatanusA railroad saw mill village and switch on the B. C. R. R., 2 miles north of Fagus (q. v.). The name given by Mr. Barron, is the Latin botanical name for sycamore, a kind of tree very common in this section of Missouri. (--Place Names.)Polk Township
In 1850 or 1851, a few months after the county had been redivided into four townships, Polk Township was formed, evidently partly superseding Butler Township. Any idea that it was named for President James K. Polk (1795-1849) has been disproved by local history. Goodspeed mentions Samuel Polk as one of the pioneers with James Brannum (cf. Brannumsburg). Mr. Corrigan, an abstractor of Poplar Bluff for years, says there were landowners of this name in the county before the Civil War, and that the site of Morocco (q. v.) was owned by Negroes of this name. An elderly resident of the vicinity of Morocco, Mr. Martin, whose statement corroborates that made by Mr. Corrigan, and also that of Goodspeed, explained that two brothers, Pete and Thomas Polk, who had been slaves of the Polk family in Arkansas, came here after they had been freed, and settled on both sides of Black River. In 1866 when the new township of Gillis Bluff was organized, the name Polk Township disappeared from the map. (--Place Names.)Ponder's Mill
An earlier name for Powers Mill. It was owned by Thomas Ponder, who had married Andrew Ponder's sister. (--Place Names.)Poplar Bluff
Poplar Bluff, the county seat of Butler County, is located at the junction of the St. L. I. M. R. R., with the C. A. T. R. R.165 miles south of St. Louis and 179 miles northeast from Little Rock, was laid out in 1850. It is located on the west bank of the Black River, on an elevation 25 or 30 feet above the adjacent valley, and has a population of about 1,000. The town is surrounded by valuable timber lands, and is an important shipping point for a large region of the country. It has 1 newspaper, 2 drug stores and 4 general retail stores, 1 grist-mill, 1 public school house and 1 seminary. (--The Gazetteer of Missouri, Campbell, 1874, p. 85.)
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This city, the largest in this section of counties, is now situated on both sides of Black River, on the Mo. Pac. and Frisco Railroads, and it is the terminus of the "Cat" Branch and Butler Co. R. R. It owes its rapid growth to the timber business and its means of transportation. The commissioners, appointed by the county court, John Stevens, William Henley, and John F. Martin, selected for the site 160 acres of government land and appointed Obadiah Epps to receive small loans from individuals, with which to pay for the land. The townsite was surveyed early in 1850, and on May 17, and in August, public sales were made for selling lots. The post-office was established February 27, 1850. In February, 1870, Poplar Bluff was incorporated by the county court as a village. Its name was suggested by the dense growth of the famous tulip tree, commonly called poplar, the Magnolia of the north, which at that time covered the bluffs overlooking the river. The tulip or yellow poplar belongs to the magnolia family, "Magnoliacea". "Liradendran", meaning lily and tree, and "tulipfera", tulip bearing, are two Greek words describing this variety of poplar. It is one of the largest and most beautiful of our native trees and is known to have reached a height of 190 ft. with a trunk of 10 ft. in diameter. Parker, Mo. As It Was In 1867, p. 200, gives the name "Poplar Bluffs" for the place. Locally, in the rural region, "The Bluff" is a very common term. They more often say "go to The Bluff" than "to Poplar Bluff."(--Place Names.)Poplar BluffsIt covers several sections in Townships 24 N and 25 N, or Range 6 E. Highways 142, 160, 67, U, & PP, intersect here.
See Poplar Bluff. (--Place Names.)Poplar Grove
The Poplar Grove mentioned by Davis and Durris is now seldom heard of, for the large tulip poplar trees, reaching a diameter of 3 and 4 ft., that grew all along Black River for some miles south and east of the foothills were cut out years ago. Cf. Poplar Bluff. (--Place Names.)
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Poplin FerryThe ferry was on the St. Francis River, where the Cairo Branch of the Mo. Pac. R. R. now crosses. It carried the name of the little mill village, Poplin, on the Stoddard Co. side, now one of the lost villages, which was a family name. Cf. Fisk. (--Place Names.)Pottenger Spring
See Powers Spring. (--Place Names.)Powers Fort
A peculiar formation on the west county line, near Little Black River, in Beaver Dam Township, which Houck says is an Indian Mound, and describes it: "An embankment enclosing an area of about 750 sq. ft. A ditch from 3 to 5 feet deep surrounds the fort which has four mounds: on land owned by Powers." No other information was found but I (Miss Pottenger) rather think, as the name indicates, that it may be the ruins of a sort of stockade built for protection during the Civil War, because Washington, and Andrew Powers, with their families, lived in that vicinity during the war. However, Indian Mounds would be very probable, for the red men were here when the settlers came. (--Place Names.)Powers Mill
A pioneer grist mill, of which only the ruins remain, in Beaver Dam Township, on Little Black River and on the Military Road, near the Ripley County line. "Uncle Jimmy" Tubb built the mill before the Civil War apparently, for Thomas Ponder, by whose name it was known for a time. Then Holly Powers, who lived in Ripley County and kept the Beaver Dam post-office, operated the mill before the Civil War. Later "Uncle Andy" Andrew Powers, for whom the mill was named, owned the mill and operated it for many years, when it was the best in the county at that time. It has not been used since in the very early 1900's. The post-office near by was called Belcher. Powers Graveyard, in the vicinity of the mill, was started during the Civil War. It is known by this name because the older members of the Powers, Washington and Andrew families were the first to be buried there. (--Place Names.)
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Powers Post-OfficeMr. Montgomery says that there was a post-office at the Powers Mill, which was kept by Washington Powers, a pioneer Baptist minister, son of Thomas Powers; but other informants think Belcher (q. v.) was the nearest post-office, and I (Miss Pottenger) did not locate the name in Postal Guides. It is quite probable that such a place did exist before Belcher was established. Washington Powers moved from the mill vicinity before 1885. It is more probable that Beaverdam Post-Office in Ripley County (q. v.) kept by Holly Powers, son of Washington, is the one in mind, and "Powers" was only a local name. (--Place Names.)Powers Spring
It was on land in Beaverdam Township, 4-1/2 miles northwest of Harviell, owned by Washington Powers, a pioneer Baptist minister. About 1879, the youngest child, Melvina, playing in the sand by a small stream, discovered a small stream. Spading out the place at the foot of a hill a strong spring was found, which has been made into a well, and that has never gone dry. Now called Pottenger Spring for Grayton Pottenger, who later owned the farm. The place was the neighborhood "washing place" for many brought the family laundering there, and many barrels of water were hauled away each day. (--Place Names.)Purdyville
A flourishing little saw mill village having a store and about 20 houses, situated north of Harviell on the Mo. Pac. R. R., during the 1880's and 1890's. Named for Purdy, the man who operated the mill. (--Place Names.)Quercus
A Latin botanical name for "oak" given in 1906 by Mr. Barron and Charles Langlotz to a switch on the B. C. R. R., which was an important point for the concentration of cars for the Quercus Lumber Co., of East Poplar Bluff. The company had a contract with the Great Western Land Co., for cutting the oak timber from their vast tracts of land in Butler Co. G. C. Swallow, state geologist and professor of Missouri University, writes: "In 1856 our surveying party measured trees in South-East Missouri. In Mississippi County, a Spanish Oak, Quercus falcota, measured 28 ft. in circumference and 100 ft. in height."(--Place Names.)It was between Nyassa and Qulin on the B. C. R. R. (--Map of Western States, 1911, Rand, McNally & Co.)
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QulinThe name of a post-office kept by Alfred Kelly in his home until a few days before his death (1896) when he turned it over to William Gentzen. I (Miss Pottenger) have not found whether the name was changed at that time or not. It was established as early as 1883. The origin if the name is not known definitely. Mr. Calvin thinks it was given for Quincy (later Mrs. William Gentzen), Mr. Kelly's eldest daughter; but Mrs. John Craft, a daughter of Mr. Kelly's gave the following explanation: Dr. Cook of the community suggested calling the office Ruth for Ruth Kelly (Mrs. John Craft), but that her father objected and just took some letters and made up the name. When the papers came from Washington accepting the name, she, a mere child at the time, asked him what it meant and where he had got such a queer word. He answered, "I don't know." She further explained that the Quincy mentioned was a sister of her father's and that his daughters were Ruth, Laura, Alice and Quincy. Alice was not living when the post-office name was selected. She also stated that Fred Pratt, who was later a timber and mill man in that section, thought the word was the name of a kind of timber. On the railroad map of 1910, the name is spelled Quilin, an attempt at simplified spelling. This spelling probably came from the idea that it was another of the tree-name villages along the B. C. R. R. It seems to me (Miss Pottenger), very obvious that the suggested names, Quincy and Laura, must have been the cause for Mr. Kelly's just taking some letters and forming a word, "QU" from Quincy, the initial letter from "Laura", and the second two letters of Quincy to make the word. However certain one may feel that the two daughters' names are the real parents of the post-office name one can only conclude that Mr. Kelly arbitrarily coined the word, and apparently we have no way of finding how he was thinking at the time. Cf. Kelly School, Qulin School and Qulin the village. (--Place Names.)QulinIt is located at Section 31, Township 23 N, Range 8 E, and Section 36, Township 23 N, Range 7 E, at the junction of Highways 51, 53 & Y.
A small town on the B. C. R. R., a name which supplemented Melville (q. v.) prior to 1910. Mr. Barron, who was president of the railroad company, earlier its attorney, says he knows nothing of the origin of the name, but that "Qulin was the name of a school house some 3 miles southwest of the present town of Qulin, and the name was stolen and transplanted to the town." It is possible that the old Qulin post-office name could have been changed to another name before the town was established, but it is very likely that the old post-office was moved to the station, and the new Qulin was merely the old post-office name as well as the school name. Cf. Melville and Qulin post-office. (--Place Names.)
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RagtownA mill camp, composed of shacks and ragged tents near one of Marshall's mills in the vicinity of Broseley in the timber days. (--Place Names.)Ralph's Place
See State Line Service Station. (--Place Names.)Randie's Mill
See Roxie. (--Place Names.)
Red Sea (Butler and Ripley)
A lowland region that heads in Butler Co., and leads between Naylor and Neelyville into Little Black River in Arkansas. Before the drainage system was established, it would, during rainy season, become an impassable sea. This condition caused the early settlers to give it the Bible name for the sea over which Pharaoh tried unsuccessfully to pursue the Israelites in their Exodus from Egypt. (--Place Names.)Reeve's Mill
Albert Reeves had a pioneer grist mill at what is now known as Keener Springs. A few remains may yet be seen. Cf. Reeves Station. (--Place Names.)Reeve's Station
According to Eaton, this was the earlier name for Hendrickson (q. v.); but old residents say Reeve's Station was about a mile west of that town, which location agrees with the 1859 plat. These local informants connect the name with Colonel Timothy Reeves, whom they declare was stationed there during the Civil War, on the old Albert Reeves farm, to head off General Sterling Price on his famous raid of August 29, to December 2, 1864, along the old Military Road. One informant remarked that German soldiers under his command took a special liking to him, and that "people enjoyed life while he was stationed there, for the Jayhawkers did not give so much trouble." An examination of authentic historical records, however, show that local traditions have distorted facts in making Reeves an officer on the Union side. He was in truth a Confederate officer under General Price, and is referred to as himself a notable "bushwhacker" in the official records of the Union Army. A report of the skirmish at Reeve's Mill, November 19, 1864, mentions a "rebel force of about 200 men under Timothy Reeves" and declared that the Union forces killed a notorious bushwhacker, Ely Garbert, at Reeve's Mill, and destroyed the mill, which had been used as a place of resort by them and was furnishing supplies continually." Col. Reeves has been better remembered by present day inhabitants at Battle Hollow (q. v.) in Ripley Co., as an officer on the Confederate side and in command of the Southern troops at the skirmish at Ponder's Mill on September 20, 1864. Goodwin and West, 1867, p. 45, gives Reeves Station as a post-office. Mr. Deem (unidentified) explained that Col. Timothy Reeves was a brother to Albert Reeves. (--Place Names.)
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Reeves Station (Hendrickson)
Reeves Station (Hendrickson) on the St. L. I. & M. R. R., 12-1/2 miles north of Poplar Bluff, was laid off in 1873, and had 1 store. There are indications of immense deposits of iron in this vicinity, which has given importance to the place. (--Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874, p. 85.)Relleford Store
It was built in 1866 by Arch Relleford who came from California at the close of the Civil War and built the store on the Military Road near the present site of Cane Creek School. When Ezekiel Sandlin bought the store, it soon acquired his name. See Sandlin Store. (--Place Names.)Renton
A post-office or town listed by Wilson, 1873, but no information could be found about it. Since it is an unusual name, it is, no doubt, a misprint of Benton. (--Place Names.)Resnick
It was about 10 miles west of Poplar Bluff in the Bay Springs School Community. John Resnick has a blacksmith shop, a store, a filling station, and a garage at the place. (--Place Names.)Ringo Ford
At the old crossing on Little Black River, now spanned by a bridge for Highway 42. A store, a filling station, and a number of cabins have been built, all of which add to the comfort of the popular picnic and fishing grounds. It acquired its name from the Ringo Mill (q. v.). (--Place Names.)
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Ringo MillOn August 1, 1838, Richard Ringo acquired a large tract of land on Little Black River in the vicinity of Ringo Ford (q. v.). Here he operated a small grist mill, before the Powers Mill farther up the stream, was established. He and his son, Lafayette, improved the mill when the Civil War came. Legend has it that there was a little skirmish here during the war, but that the corn mill continued to operate for a while. Also, it is said that there are Indian graves in the vicinity. A portion of the old mill remains, and the small bay above has long been the baptizing pool for neighboring churches. (--Place Names.)Rinky Dink Club
A fishing and hunting resort on Black River, 8-1/2 miles north of Poplar Bluff. It was built by Dr. Joseph L. Lindsay, a dentist of Poplar Bluff, who gave the name. Dr. Lindsay says he borrowed the name from the "old comic series of Winnie Winkle, the Breadwinner." Perry, her little brother and his gang built a little shack and called it "Rinky Dink." The comic strip by B. Banner in Kansas City Times and other publications has been very popular during the first half of the twentieth century. The place is also known as Lindsay Club House for the owner. Dr. Lindsay explains that he has taken in three partners, and that the small two-room house has been improved into "a nice Ritzy Place", but the name still held. (--Place Names.)Riverside Mill
A name applied to the large timber mill operated in the 1880's and early 1890's, by Benjamin S. Garetson and Hugh Gresson at the present site of Fisk (q. v.) on the west side of St. Francis River. (--Place Names.)Robertson's Ferry
On the St.Francis River, east of Rombauer at the mouth of Deep Slough, Louis Robinson, a farmer keeps canoes for rental, but there is no real ferry boat. (--Place Names.)Rombauer
It is 8-1/2 miles northeast of Poplar Bluff. (--The State of Missouri, in 1904, p. 339.)It is located at Sections 2 & 3, Township 25 N, Range 7 E, at the north end of Highway Z.
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A small town in St. Francis Township on the Frisco R. R. Some of the citizens wanted to name it for George Spangler, who gave the town site and right-of-way for the road, but a vote was taken for Judge Rombauer of St. Louis. A story is told that Judge Rombauer was on the train with the first inspection group. When they came to this place, all the members of the party got off except him, and someone remarked they should name the place for him. The name father, Roderick E. Rombauer, was born in Hungary and died in St. Louis in 1924 at the age of 91 years. He had been a prominent judge in St. Louis. (--Place Names.)Romine Springs
These are springs on land owned by Abraham Romine. Cf. Romine Springs (post-office and station). (--Place Names.)Romine Springs
An abandoned station and post-office on the Frisco R. R., near the large springs on the land formerly owned by Abraham Romine, one of the judges of the county court when it met in 1850, its first meeting in Poplar Bluff. (--Place Names.)Rossville SpurIt was 1-1/4 mile northeast of Poplar Bluff. (--The State of Missouri, in 1904, p. 339.)
A mill village, or camp on the B. C. R. R., from which a short branch extended west. Named by John Marshall, for the widow Ross, who lived near. (--Place Names.)Round PondIt was north of Batesville. (--Map of Western States, 1911, Rand, McNally & Co.)
It is on what is now (1945) the Price farm, northeast of Bethel Church, the site of an early distillery and Fredie post-office. Springs were not common in that immediate vicinity, and the pond was one of a good watering place for stock. (--Place Names.)Roxie
Roxie was 8 miles southwest of Poplar Bluff. (--The State of Missouri, in 1904, p. 339.)
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A post-office and old grist mill site on Cave Creek between Poplar Bluff and Bay Springs Church. During the Civil War, it was operated by a Mr. Harrison, by whose name it was known. Later it was owned by Thomas M. Lane, who had come from Georgia to Butler Co., in 1869 and lived on a farm near the mill, then Tubbs Mill (q. v.). Later William Randles came from Indiana and bought land and the mill. He got the post-office established, to which he wished to give his name. Mrs. Ollie Randles, daughter-in-law of William Randles, explained that her husband, Martin Randles, then a small boy, offered the name Roxie for his little sister who had died a short time before. This discovery disproves the possible origin, as suggested by Rev. Wallis, because of the fact that several loads of rocks had been thrown into the creek to make the road more shallow. Nothing but the old ruins of the mill remain, but the place is a good place for picnicking and fishing. (--Place Names.)Rushville Camp
A mill camp in Epps Township, between Ten Mile and Beaver Dam Creeks, where M. A. Johnson operated a saw mill, but nothing else has been found about the origin of the name. (--Place Names.)Ruth and Hargrove Mill
A large spoke and handle mill, established in the late 1890's near the south limits of Poplar Bluff by Harvey I. Ruth of Pennsylvania and Chas. H. Hargrove, formerly of Stoddard Co., Missouri. The mill was later operated by the son, Harvey I. Ruth. (--Place Names.)Ruth and Hargrove Tram
It was built in the early 1880's southwest from Poplar Bluff into the timber regions for the purpose of bringing logs to the Ruth and Hargrove Mill (q. v.). The road is being junked and the rails sold, since the use of trucks is now possible (1945). (--Place Names.)Ruthville
The old logging camp, about 12 miles southeast of Poplar Bluff, the terminus of the Hargrove and Ruth Tram (q.v.). Named for Harvey I. Ruth, Sr., from Pennsylvania, who was for years a prominent lumber and businessman of Poplar Bluff. His son, Harvey I. Ruth, continued the business. (--Place Names.)
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RyanPostal Guides, 1893, list this as an office in Butler Co. Nothing definite could be found about the post-office, but the name is a very common family name in this section of Missouri. Mrs. Ellen O'Neill of Doniphan explained that her father, Peter Ryan, came from Ireland and was one of the Irish Settlers in Ripley Co. Ryan Hollow is listed in Carter Co., as a tributary of Cane Creek, and informants say that Johnny Ryan lived near the mouth of this hollow. Since this is very near the Butler Co. line, doubtless the post-office was near this place and took his name. (--Place Names.)Sandlin Store
See Relleford Store. (--Place Names.)Sawyer
A discontinued station and post-office on the Frisco Railroad, about 2-1/2 miles southwest of Rombauer. Named for Charley Sawyer, who had a large saw mill and kept the post-office. (--Place Names.)SchraederIt was 6-1/2 miles northeast of Poplar Bluff. (--The State of Missouri, in 1904, p. 339.)
A switch (shown on the 1910 map), on the Missouri Pacific Rail Road, south of Neelyville, in the timber days. It took its name from a saw mill operated there by a man of that name. (--Place Names.)Schraeder Mill
See Schraeder. (--Place Names.)Shiloh
A post-office 18 miles northwest of Poplar Bluff. (--Gazetteer of Missouri, Campbell, p. 85.)It was a discontinued post-office that was kept by various persons in the community. See Shiloh School and Church. (--Place Names.)
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Shiloh ChurchA Methodist Church, near the center of Cane Creek Township, established in May, 1842, and said to be the second church established in Butler Co. The first house was of logs, at the site of Shiloh Graveyard, used for school also. It has continued active, and during the early days was the scene of many camp activities. A familiar Bible name. (Cf. Genesis 49:10). (--Place Names.)Shiloh School
A school near Shiloh Church for which it was named. (--Place Names.)Shipman's Ford
On Black River not far from Hillard. Named for Daniel Shipman, first white child born in what is now Poplar Bluff, who later lived near Hillard. (--Place Names.)
Sixteen to One School (16 to 1 School)
Although a town, still this rather unique name deserves space. Organized about the time of the Bryan and McKinley campaign of 1896 when the monetary standard was the chief issue. Also called Independence School, for the church about 1 mile northwest. (--Place Names.) (Location is unknown).Slapout
A derisive name given by the workmen to their camp at what is now Fagus. While building the railroad, the crew boarded at the one shack of a settler there, who habitually excused the absence of meat or some other needed food by saying he was "slapout" of the article, but would get it soon. (--Place Names.)Slinger Filling Station
A country store in Oak Grove School District on Highway 60, established in July, 1933, by W. C. Slinger, near his home. (--Place Names.)Souders Ferry
John Souders, a farmer and timber man, had a ferry boat at the old Military Road crossing of Black River near Hillard, about 40 years ago (from 1945). (--Place Names.)
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Southern Missouri and Arkansas RailroadThe road was completed from Hoxie to Poplar Bluff in October, 1901. Later known as "The Frisco". Locally it was first known as the Hoxie Branch. (--Place Names.)Sparkman Settlement
The Cave Creek Settlement (q. v.) is now also known by this name from the very progressive families who came from Kentucky in 1840. (--Place Names.)Spencer Creek
A west tributary of Black River, north of Agee School. William Spencer, from Virginia, was an early settler there. It was also known as Mill Creek and Nigger Creek after the Civil War because James Spencer, who operated the grist mill during the War, gave it to his elderly freed slave, Henry Spencer, at the close of the War. More recently it has acquired the name Hoetop, for a recent land owner. (--Place Names.)Spencer's Mill
See Spencer Creek. (--Place Names.)Spread
A station on the B. C. R. R., two and one-half miles northwest of Broseley. It received this name when the road was under construction and the workmen's camp was here, because, even in slightly rainy seasons, the overflow water spread out around this higher elevation into a vast sheet. (--Place Names.)State Line Service Station
Established in 1931 on Highway 67 by Ralph Stetson at the Arkansas-Missouri line, south of Last Chance (q. v.). Also known as Ralph's Place, a neat building which serves as a home, a little store of groceries, lunch counter, and filling station. (--Place Names.)The Stave Mill
See Oxley Stave Factory. (--Place Names.)
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Still CampSee Still Camp Slough. (--Place Names.)Still Camp Slough
In Coon Island Township, now drained by Still Camp Ditch. Mr. Haag explained that there was a logging camp there during the timber days. Persons interviewed did not know or were reluctant to tell, but Mrs. Craft says that back in the 1870's or early 1880's there was a large distillery there. (Mrs. Ruth Craft.) (--Place Names.)
Stringtown (1)
During the Prohibition days of the Eighteenth Amendment, there was said to be a bootlegging joint, about 12 miles west of Poplar Bluff, where the less scrupulous went "stringing in and out." A name of disapproval. (--Place Names.)It was located at Section 7, Township 24 N, Range 5 E, and Section 12, Township 24 N, Range 4 E, near the west end of Highway M.
Stringtown (2)
A timber camp of rough huts arranged in a row on a branch of the B. C. R. R., near Marshall, during the mill age. (--Place Names.)Summer Breeze Camp
A small tourist camp on Highway 60 about 3 miles northwest of Pine Ridge Camp (q. v.). Situated on a high hill, it has the full benefits of any currents of air. (--Place Names.)Taft
A former post-office and saw mill village on the Frisco Rail Road, in Neely Township. Only one small store remains. Ira Taft owned land there and operated a saw mill, which facts led some informants to think it was named for him; but the donor of the name, Mr. Thomas Kenzie, says he himself had a small store at the place, got the office established, and named it for William Howard Taft (1857-1913), which fact verifies Eaton's statement. (--Place Names.)It was located at Sections 16 & 17, Township 23 N, Range 5 E, on an unmarked road south of Highway V.
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Ten MileA post-office, near Ten Mile Creek, about 1-1/2 miles southwest of Halloran (q. v.), from which the office was moved. Discontinued November 1, 1931, when a mail route from Poplar Bluff was established. (--Place Names.)
Ten Mile Creek (Carter & Butler Counties)
It heads northeast of Hunter in Johnson Township (Carter Co.) and flows into Cane Creek in Butler Co. Named for its length. (--Place Names.)Tubb's Mill
James "Uncle Jimmy" Tubbs owned the mill in 1886, before William Randles acquired it. It was on the old road from Poplar Bluff to Doniphan. Cf. Roxie. (--Place Names.)Turk Mill
See Howell Mill. (--Place Names.)Ulmus
A Latin botanical name for elm, given by Mr. Barron and Charles Langlotz to a mill camp on the Palmer Rail Road, two miles east of Qulin. Much elm timber grew in the region. (--Place Names.)Upton
A post-office about which nothing definite could be found. Mr. Andrew Duncan and his wife say there were people of this name in Wayne and nearby counties. Mrs. Maggie Duncan relates that several years ago, an elderly man of this name lived not far from their home southwest of Piedmont. The post-office is doubtless a family name. (--Place Names.)Vastus
A discontinued post-office near Coon Island School. Named by Judge B. Deem, when he, then a young man, taught the school and was instrumental in getting the post-office established in 1883. Mr. Deem explains that as the Postal authorities wanted a short and unusual name, he chose the Latin word meaning "great", because "we thought we were great then and had great possibilities."(--Place Names.)It was 5-1/2 miles east of Neelyville. (--The State of Missouri, in 1904, p. 339.)
It was located at Section 15, Township 22 N, Range 6 E, on Highway H.
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Vasus CommunityA name by which a part of Coon Island School District is still known, 6 miles east of Neelyville. Named for the post-office. (--Place Names.)Victory Hill
An idealistic name, by which Vinegar Hill (q. v.), is now known because that suburb was re-built so promptly and with buildings much better than those destroyed by the tornado of 1927. (--Place Names.)Vinegar Hill
A suburb of Poplar Bluff in the southwest part, now generally known as Victory Hill. The following story is told to account for the name:WalshAbout 1880, when only a few houses stood on the hill, a farmer, Horace Horton, was going to town with a load of sorghum molasses and vinegar. While going up the hill, the endgate of the wagon fell out and some of the contents were spilled. The place was known for a time as Molasses Run and Vinegar Hill. By 1894 this suburb had grown considerably, being populated almost exclusively by employees of Alfrey's Heading Factory. (--Place Names.)
See Walsh Spur. Doubtless "Spur" was dropped from the name when the post-office was established. (--Place Names.)Walsh Spur
Now known as Walsh, near Hart's Switch. A man of this name had a saw mill there. Hart School is now known by this name, for the station. Walsh is still a station on the Missouri-Pacific R. R. (--Place Names.)Waterworks Spur
The watering place for the engines of the Frisco R. R. The Poplar Bluff Light and Water Company Plant is located there and a small park is being developed there near Black River, about the plant. (1945). (--Place Names.)Wetbelt
Campbell gives this name on the 1893 map. It was, before the drainage system was established, a great swampy region in the southwest part of the county. Nothing has been found about the meaning. (--Place Names.)
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WhitlowWhitlow was located at Section 22 & 9, Township 22 N, Range 7 E, on Highway N, between Muffittville and Carola.Wilby
A station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 2 1/2 miles south of Hendrickson. A story, which was perhaps only a late invention is told that two Davidson brothers kept a store and the post-office there. As many calls were made for articles not in stock, customers would be repeatedly answered with "We will have (the article) before long." So in a spirit of ridicule, the name, a corruption of "Will be" was given the place. The reason given by Mr. and Mrs. Davidson, lifelong residents there, is doubtless the true origin of the name.Williams FerryA man by the name of Whitworth had a woodyard there, and as the timber business opened up, the people asked the railroad company to put in a spur. Instead they put in a siding, the work of which was managed by an experienced elderly man by the name of Wilby, for whom the place was named. (--Place Names.)
An old Wayne County family name for Indian Ford (q. v.), given by Colton's Map of 1867. Later called Pollard Ferry for the man who ran the ferry. (--Place Names.)Winchester
An old logging camp on the Hargrove and Ruth Tram R. R. (q. v.), 3 miles southeast of Poplar Bluff. Named by Mr. C. H. Hargrove, at that time log manager for the mill, because he had one of the famous Winchester rifles, named for their American manufacturer, Oliver F. Winchester (1810-1880) while the other men had only common shot guns. (--Place Names.)Yates Mill
Mrs. Mary Greer, an elderly resident of the community, says that James Yates had the first little grist mill at what is now Ringo Ford, and that the Ringo family bought it from him. (--Place Names.)