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

Compiled by Arthur Paul Moser

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Armstrong (elevation 830 feet)

This town was laid out in the spring of 1818...It is about eight miles from Glasgow. The first business house was completed and occupied by P. A. Wooley...Samuel Prather was the first postmaster. The town contained 1 church edifice, built by different denominations as a union church; 3 dry goods stores, 2 groceries, 2 drug stores, 1 lumberyard and 2 blacksmiths--1883. (--History of Howard and Cooper Counties, 1883, National Historical Society, St. Louis, pp. 237, 238.

It is situated at Sec. 27, 28, 33 & 34, Twp. 52 N, Range 3 West at the junction of Highways U & V. (--General Highway Map of Howard County, issued by the Missouri Highway Department, 10-1-63. Unless otherwise noted all map descriptions are from this map.)

Bluffport

Bluffport was south from Glasgow, near the Saline Co. line. (--The State of Missouri, in 1904, Walter Williams, p. 405).

It was situated at Sec. 31, Twp. 51 North, on range line between Ranges 17 & 18, West, on the Missouri River.

The post-office was discontinued prior to 1905. (--General Scheme of Missouri, 1905, Still P. Taft, Postmaster General, for the use of Railway Mail Clerks.)

Boonsboro (also Boonsborough)

It is in Boone's Lick Township and named in honor of Daniel Boone, and was laid out in 1840 by Col. N. G. Elliott, Joseph Cooper, Achille Callaway and Lindsay P. Marshall, on Sec. 4, Twp. 49 N, Range 17 West. It is 12 miles southeast of Fayette, the county seat.

The first house in the place was erected by Achille Callaway, soon after the laying out of the town. It was built of logs, and in it Callaway opened a small stock of goods, consisting principally of tobacco and whiskey. He was a native of Howard County, but his parents were from Kentucky...

The first dry goods and general stock of merchandise was kept by R. H. Turner; Turner was also the first mail contractor. The first mail facility enjoyed by the town was during the year 1853, when the people supplied their own mail by the way of New Franklin. The first post-office was established in 1856, John A. Fisher postmaster...

Hamp Carson was the first blacksmith, W. J. and F. M. Baugh were two of the first merchants...The town contained a total of 250 inhabitants. It contained a church, school house, 2 general stores, 2 drug stores, 1 blacksmith shop, 1 wagon and carriage shop, 2 saloons and a post-office. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, 1883, pp. 356. 357.)

It is situated at Sec. 4, Twp. 49 N, Range 17 West at the junction of Highways 87 & J.

Mail via Franklin. (--Rand McNally Standard Reference Guide of Mo., 1974.).

[2]

Boonslick (Boone's Lick)

It was situated in Section 6, west of Boonsboro, in Twp. 49 N, Range 17 West. (--New Atlas of MO., 1874, Campbell, Map #19).

While Lewis and Clark were exploring the Louisiana Purchase Territory in 1804...they camped for the night--June 7 or 8, 1804--at the mouth of La Mine River. The next day they reached Arrow Rock, and some time was spent in exploring the country. A salt spring was found, which from the description given, is beyond doubt that which years after became known as Boone's Lick... (--Encyclopedia of the Hist. of MO., 1901, Conard, Vol. 4, p. 311).

Bunker Hill (Myer's Post-Office)

Bunker Hill contained a post-office, a blacksmith shop, and store. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, 1883, p. 241).

It is situated at Sec. 18, Twp. 51 N, Range 14 West on an extension of Highway O past BB.

Mail via Higbee. (--Rand, McNally, 1974).

Burton (Burton Township)

This town is located on the line of the M. K. & T. R. R., and contained a population of 129 in 1880. Population in 1883 considerably more. The business places consisted of general stores, general assortment, a blacksmith shop, etc...

It is situated at Sec. 16, Twp. 51 N, Range 15 West on Highway N east of M.

Mail via Fayette. (--Rand, McNally, 1974).

Chariton

Chariton later acquired the appelation of Old Chariton. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, p. 205).

Cooper Chapel

See Petersburg. (--Rand, McNally, 1974).

[3]

Estill Station (Franklin Township)

Estille Station is located on the M. K. & T. R. R., near the center of the township in the Northeast quarter of Southwest quarter of Section 17, Twp. 48 N, Range 16 West, and was named in honor of James R. Estill, a large landed proprietor, and stock raiser. The town contained 1 store and blacksmith shop (1883). (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, 1883, pp. 173, 174).

It is 8 miles south of Fayette. (--Campbell's Gazetteer of MO., 1874, Campbell, p. 252).

It is on Highway 5, north of New Franklin. (--Gen. Highway Map of Howard Co.).

Mail via New Franklin. (--Rand, McNally, 1974).

Fayette (elevation 665 feet)

Fayette, the county seat of Howard County, is located on parts of Sections 11 and 12, in Twp. 50 N, Range 16 West. It was named in honor of General Lafayette, who served in the Revolutionary War. In 1823, when the town was laid out the news had just been received that Lafayette would soon visit the United States. This visit, however, did not take place until 1824...

Fayette was located by Jonathan Crawley, Wm. Head, Samuel Wallace, Glenn Owens and Samuel Hardin. Hiram Fugate and Hickerson Burnham, both of whom are mentioned in the sketch of Richmond Township, each donated twenty-five acres of land for the county seat.

After the town was laid out, Elisha Witt erected the first house which was constructed of logs, and located on ground where Howard College now stands...Hickerson Burnham erected the first large brick residence...The first jeweler was Joel Gill. William Jones, Sr., was the first wagon maker. Jesse Whitton had the honor of erecting the first mill--a horse-mill, one set of buhrs. James Spencer had a carding machine and mill combined--inclined tread-wheel. John A. Johnson operated an inclined tread-wheel carding machine...

The town was incorporated by the county court in November, 1826...It was reincorporated May, 1830...

The public square was laid out with reference to the smoothness of the surface of the land, than with reference to the points of the compass...The consequence is, the streets do not run east and west or due north and south. The stranger visiting Fayette, would never know, without being told, that what he would suppose to be the northeast corner of the public square is not in fact the northeast corner, but the corner of the square pointing due north... (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, pp. 178, 179, 180, 182, 184, 200).

It is situated at Secs. 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, & 14, Twp. 50 N, Range 16 West on Highways 5, E & 240.

[4]

Franklin (later referred to as Old Franklin)

This town (named after Benjamin Franklin) afterwards called "Old Franklin" in contradistinction to New Franklin, the same township, was located on Section 5, Township 48 N, Range 16 West in 1816, on the river bank, and opposite to Boonville, in Cooper County. It was selected in 1817, as the county seat of Howard County by Benjamin Estill, David Jones, David Kincaid, William Head and Stephen Cole, who were appointed commissioners for that purpose by the General Assembly of Missouri. Hannah Cole's fort remained the county seat, however, until the second Monday in November, 1817, when the circuit court met at Franklin the first time...

About two years after the town was laid out, an addition was added, called "East Franklin"...The streets were eighty-seven feet wide. The first house built in Franklin, upon the authority of Mrs. Mary Jones, was erected by Amos Barnes. It was constructed of rough logs and stood near the river bank. The land office was located there, soon after it was founded, and it being the western settlement of any importance in the State, it was the starting point for the Santa Fe country...Many prominent men of Missouri were citizens of Old Franklin, among whom were four governors. Claiborne F. Jackson is perhaps the most famous governor, was a clerk in a store operated by Kickman and Lamb from Kentucky. This was in the year 1826...Henry V. Bingham, father of George Bingham, the well known artist and portrait painter kept a hotel...The Missouri Intelligencer, the first newspaper established west of St. Louis, was started here in 1819...

Franklin continued to be the county seat of Howard County, until 1823, when the county seat was located at Fayette, since it is about the geographical center of the county (after Cooper and Boone Counties had been taken from its territory...) It is estimated that Franklin, during its palmiest days--from 1823 to 1825--contained between 1,500 and 1,700 people. In 1828, on account of the overflow and washing away of the town site, Franklin was almost entirely abandoned, her citizens going elsewhere to live; a number of these families founded the town of New Franklin, within two miles of Old Franklin in the same township...The first post-office was established April 20, 1821, Augustus Stores, postmaster. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, 1883, pp. 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 171.)

It will be recalled that Franklin was located on the bank of the Missouri River in 1816, that it was selected as the county seat of Howard in 1817, that it grew rapidly in population and importance...The town and Hardeman's Gardens (q.v.) were built on a sandy foundation and in 1826-1828 during unusual floods, the Missouri claimed the right-of-way...The abundant floods caused the sandy banks to cave in. House after house fell into the river and in a short time, but little was left of the town or "gardens". Many people moved to Fayette, which had been the county seat since 1823, some crossed teh river to Boonville, and others moved to the high land about two miles north and established a new town...(In this year of 1922 not a house is left standing in the original town of Franklin.) (--Hist. of Chariton & Howard Counties, 1923, pp. 84, 85.)

[5]

(See under New Franklin.)

Glasgow (elevation 665 feet)

Glasgow owed its early existence to two facts: the healthfulness of its location and the advantages of a future trading-point.

Other towns had been founded near it, one of which (Old Chariton) had attained considerable importance, and at one time contained from one to two thousand inhabitants, but after surviving for a number of years, the site was finally abandoned, on account of malaria and other diseases...Old Chariton was laid out in 1817, by Duff Green...Thomas Joyce, and Major Finley, near the mouth of the Chariton River, two miles north of the present city of Glasgow. The town grew so rapidly, and promised so much for the future, that William Coblen, one of the pioneers of the place, actually exchanged his lots in St. Louis, for an equal number of lots in Chariton.

Chariton being regarded in 1829, as too unhealthy to live in, the town of Monticello was then located, one mile to the rear of it, on high land. In 1832, another town was started on a point projecting into the Missouri River, at the mouth of the Chariton, which was called Thortonsburg. This name, however, not suiting the citizens of the place, many of whom had emigrated from Kentucky, they determined to change it, and finally bestowed upon the town, the more euphonious, albeit longer appellation Louisville-on-Missouri-River.

It has been said that too much name is not only burdensome, but at times proved fatal to its owner. Whether the name in this instance had any effect on the aspiration of the town, we cannot say, but it is a fact that Louisville-on-Missouri River, together with its predecessors Chariton, Thortonsburg, and Monticello, have long since been numbered with the things of the past. None of the above situations being just what was desired upon which to rear a permanent town of city, they were all abandoned, and teh present town site of Glasgow was selected as possessing all the requisites necessary for such an enterprise.

In the fall of 1836, the town was laid out originally on parts of Sections 8, 9, 16, & 17, Township 51 N, Range 17 West by a group of men, of whom James Glasgow was one...The name Glasgow was given in his honor. He was one of the early settlers of Chariton, and afterwards moved to St. Louis, where he died. The pioneer business man of the place was a Mr. Walker, who erected the typical log cabin...Here he opened a small stock of goods and his prime stock goods were whiskey and tobacco...The earliest "village blacksmith" was Green W. Plunkett, who came from Kentucky...Emerson T. Thornton (after the latter the old town of Thorntonsburg was called) established the first ferry here...

[6]

On the 27th of February, 1845, the legislature passed "an act incorporating the City of Glasgow". In 1850, at the Port of Glasglow a total of 10 steamboats "came up the river, while a total of 11 went down the river." (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, 1883, pp. 205, 206, 207, 209, 210.)

The population in 1874 was about 2,800. (--Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874, p. 253.)

This town, on the bank of Missouri River, was surveyed, and the lots offered for sale, on the 20th of Sept. 1836, while the forest trees were standing on the site. The underwood had been cleared out of the lots fronting on the river...The old town of Chariton had been depopulated, and its sickly location condemned by acclamation. The business men of the vicinity were anxious to find a location on the river where receiving and shipping and retail business could be conducted for the trade of a rich and extensive tract of farming country...(--Wetmore's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1837, p. 92.)

Hardeman's Garden (see Franklin)

Among those who came to Franklin about 1820 was a wealthy German, John Hardeman, and he proceeded to lay off a park known as "Hardeman's Garden", about five miles above Franklin and nearly opposite the mouth of the La Mine River...Mr. Hardeman died about 1829, and his park soon went the way of its master, the same floods claiming it that claimed the life of Franklin. (--Hist. of Chariton & Howard Counties, 1923, p. 84.)

Hilldale

Hilldale was in the southeast corner of the county near Boone County line. (--The State of Mo., in 1904, p. 405.)

It was situated at Sec. 6, Twp. 49 N, Range 15 West on an unmarked county road leading south from CC east of A.

There was a post-office there in 1905. (--General Scheme, p. 46.)

Hilldale is no longer listed in Howard County. There is a Hillsdale in St. Louis County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Kingsbury

Kingsbury is on the south edge of the county near the Missouri River, on the M. K. & T. R. R. (--Sectional Map of Missouri, 1894, Rand, McNally.)

See North Boonville. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Land Mark

Land Mark was near the Boone County line, 10 miles east and south of Fayette. (--The State of Mo. in 1904, p. 405.)

[7]

Apparently it was situated at Sec. 18, Twp. 50 N, Range 14 West, on an unmarked county road leading from Highway 124 west of A. (--General Highway Map of Howard Co., with the aid of New Atlas of Mo., 1874, p. 19.)

Apparently it is the same as Sebree.

The post-office was discontinued July 31, 1917; thereafter mail via Fayette. (--Mo. Manual, 1917-18, p. 644.)

Lisbon

Lisbon on the Missouri River 14 miles west, southwest of Fayette, contained two stores, 1 steam flouring-mill, 1 tobacco factory, several shops and about 100 inhabitants (1874). (--Campbell's Gazetteer of Mo., p. 253.)

The post-office was discontinued prior to 1905. (--General Scheme, p. 46.)

It was a boat landing and was a thriving village with a telephone exchange. (--Hist. of Chariton & Howard Counties, 1923, p. 79.)

Mail via Glasgow. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Lloyds

Lloyds was east of Pearsons on the rail road. (--Map of Mo., 1939, Rand, McNally.)

Louisville-on-Missouri River

See Glasgow. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, 1883, pp. 205, 206, 207, 209, 210.)

McDonald

McDonald was on the county line between Randolph and Howard Counties, on the M. K. & T. R. R. (--Map of Mo., 1931, Rand, McNally.)

Monticello

See Glasgow.

There is a Monticello in Lewis County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Myer's Post-Office

See Bunker Hill.

It was ten miles northeast of Fayette and had one store and one church. (--Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, p. 253.)

[8]

New Franklin (elevation 600 feet)

New Franklin owes its existence to the fall and final obliteration of Old Franklin and was laid out in 1828, on the west half of Sec. 28, Twp. 49 N, Range 16 West which was then owned by James Alcorn.

James Alcorn built the first business house, Willis Robertson, the first blacksmith shop...The town was incorporated February 7th, 1833. The population (1883) is about 250. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, Nat'l Hist. Society, p. 172.)

New Franklin is 2 1/2 miles northeast of Franklin and 2 1/2 miles from Estill. It contained 1 church, 1 public school, 1 steam flouring mill, 4 stores and several shops. Population about 275. (--Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874, p. 253.)

Many of the buildings of the old town were moved to the new. In addition to the first business men mentioned above, Mr. Switzler was the first hotel-keeper...The first and only lottery chartered by the State of Missouri, was started at this point, the purpose of which was to raise $15,000 in order to enable the town to build a railroad to the river. The charter was afterwards modified, so as to permit the construction of a plank road, and still later to embrace a macadamized public highway instead...

The town contained one dry goods store, two drug stores, one grocery, one harness shop, one blacksmith shop, one carpenter, one barber, the physicians, one hotel, two churches, and one school-house. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, pp. 172, 173.)

New Franklin nestled in its new site and remained a village for more than half a century. Its dream of a railroad began to be realized in 1867 when a movement was begun which eventuated in a trunk line from Hannibal, Mo., to Dennison, Texas, which in later years - 1895 - was enlarged by an addition from New Franklin to St. Louis.

The building of the Missouri, Kansas and Eastern in 1894 (now Missouri, Kansas and Texas) brought enlargement to the town, and an addition to the westward is called Franklin.

It is the site of the roundhouse, the machine shops and the homes of the employees of the railroad. There is a bank, a Union church and a branch of the public school... (--Hist. of Chariton & Howard Counties, 1923, p. 86.)

Franklin is situated at Section 29 & 30, Township 49 N, Range 16 West at the west edge of New Franklin, (q.v.)

North Boonville

Mail via New Franklin. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

[9]

North Side

See Franklin. (--Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, p. 253.)

Old Chariton

See Glasgow.

Old Franklin

An extinct town in Howard County, formerly known as Franklin, now as Old Franklin, to distinguish it from the present town of the original name. It was situated on the Missouri River, opposite the present site of Boonville. It was laid out in 1816, on fifty acres of land donated for the purpose. Two acres were reserved for a public square, and streets were eighty-seven feet wide. It was for a time the largest and most flourishing town in the State after St. Louis, being the trade center for a large region, and an outfitting point for the Santa Fe traders...In 1825 Fayette became the county seat on account of its central location.

In 1826 the encroachments of the river caused the inhabitants to move, removing the buildings bodily or tearing them down to make more rapidly disposal of the material. In a short time the site was entirely swept away. All that now remains is the old graveyard, which lay beyond its limits. (--Encyclopedia of the Hist. of Mo., 1901, Conard, Vol. 5, pp. 9, 10.)

Pearsons

Pearsons was situated at Sec. 25, Twp. 49 N, Range 16 West.

Petersburt (Cooper Chapel)

It is in the southwest corner of the county, at Sec. 13, Twp. 49N, Range 18 West, at the junction of Highways J & Z, southwest of Boonsboro.

Mail via Franklin. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Richmond (Richmond Township)

This was the name of an old business point which was situated of the present town of Fayette, in what was known as the Spanish Needle District. The township took its name after it. It contained one small store of general merchandise and a blacksmith shop. It now lives only in the memory of the old settlers. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, Nat'l Hist. Society, p. 178.)

There is a Richmond in Ray County; Richmond Heights in St. Louis County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

[10]

Roanoke

Roanoke was originally settled by Virginians, who were John Randolph, of Roanoke, and named the new town after his country seat--Roanoke. It was laid off in 1834, on the east half of the southeast quarter of Sec. 10, and west half of the southwest quarter of Sec. 11, Twp. 52 N, Range 16 West. James Head erected the first house in the town, as a general store building; he was also the first postmaster.

The town contained 2 churches, 2 dry goods stores, 2 groceries, 2 drug stores, 1 tin shop, and stove store, 2 saddlers, 2 milliners, 2 blacksmiths, 1 furniture store, 1 public school and 1 boarding-house. Roanoke was the place for holding the great central fair for several years after 1866; this fair was sustained by Howard, Randolph and Chariton Counties. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, Nat'l Hist. Society, p. 238.)

It was incorporated in February, 1853, March 1861, and again, March, 1868. It is 12 miles north of Fayette. It had a good public school, 7 stores, large tobacco factory and several shops. Population about 300 (1874). (--Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, pp. 254, 253.)

The post-office, in 1905, is listed on p. 46 of General Scheme.

Roanoke straddles the Howard-Randolph County line, with a total of 28 in Howard County and a total of 6 in Randolph Co.

It is situated at Sec. 10 & 11, Twp. 52 N, Range 16 West at the junction of 5, 129 & B.

Mail via Armstrong. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Roanoke is one of the oldest towns settled in Randolph County and lies partly in Randolph County and partly in Howard County, the dividing line between the two counties running through the town. It was incorporated...It also possessed probably the most unique opera house in Missouri. The peculiarity of the opera house lay in the fact that it was built (purposely) directly on the county line between the two counties above mentioned, and as a result it lies in two different counties, two different State senatorial districts and two different Congressional districts. At election time it serves as a public voting place, and is occupied by the separate sets of judges and clerks who act for the said political sub-divisions, one set of judges and clerks having their seats at the window on the north side of the room, and the other set having their seats at the windows on the south side. The room is also used as the court house of the town. When a case is tried there, the venue of which is in Randolph County, the magistrate and jury and parties interested occupy the north end of the opera house; when the venue of the case lies in Howard County, the courts meets on the south half of the room. (1901) (--Encyclopedia of the Hist. of Mo., 1901, Conard, Vol. 5, pp. 369, 370.)

[11]

Rosalie

Rosalie was four miles east of New Franklin. (--The State of Mo., in 1904, p. 406.)

There was a post-office there in 1905. (--General Scheme, p. 46.)

Russell

Russell, on the M. K. & T. R. R., 11 miles north, northeast of Fayette, was a new town in the vicinity of coal mines, then yielding 5 car-loads of coal per day. It contained 1 store, steam mill, several shops, etc. Population about 75. (--Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, p. 254.)

The M. K. & T. railway runs through the northwest corner of Bonne Femme Township, and formerly had a station called Russell in Section 25, but this was moved to Section 2 in Burton Township after mining operations ceased at the old place. (--Hist. of Chariton & Howard Counties, 1923, Historical Publishing Co., Topeka - Indianapolis, pp. 114, 115.)

Sebree (Moniteau Township)

See Land Mark.

The town of Sebree was laid out on a part of the southeast quarter and part of the northeast quarter of Sec. 18, Twp. 50 N, Range 14 West. The town was located on the projected line of the Louisiana and Mississippi R. R. The road, never having been built, the town did not thrive. (--Hist. of Howard & Cooper Counties, Nat'l Hist. Society, p. 240.)

It had 1 store, etc., and was 9 miles east of Fayette. (--Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, p. 254.)

Steinmetz

Steinmetz is approximately midway between Armstrong and Glasgow on the Chicago & Alton R. R. (--The State of Mo., in 1904, p. 405.)

There was a post-office there in 1905. (--General Scheme, p. 46.)

It is situated at Sec. 7, Twp. 51 N, Range 16 West on Highways 240 & 5, east of Glasgow.

Mail via Glasgow. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

Sugar Tree Grove

Its location is unknown but it is referred to in Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, p. 242.

There is no Sugar Tree Grove in Howard County, but a Sugar Tree in Carroll County. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

[12]

Talbot

Talbot was a station on the M. K. & T. R. R., 4 miles south of Fayette. (--Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, p. 254.)

Apparently it was situated at Sec. 35, Twp. 50 N, Range 16 West on Highway DD south of Robb Creek.

It is not listed in Rand, McNally, 1974.

Thorntonsburg

See Glasgow.

Walnut Grove

Walnut Grove was near New Franklin. (--Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, pp. 242, 245.)

Walnut Grove is no longer in Howard County; there is a Walnut Grove in Greene Co.; Walnut Shade in Taney Co. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)

White's Store

White's Store was on the United States Road 9 miles southeast of Fayette and 5 miles northwest of Rocheport. It was a good business point in the midst of a fine country. (--Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, p. 254.)

There was a post-office there in 1905. (--General Scheme, p. 46.)

It is no longer listed.

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