Keytesville, Missouri
| Keytesville, Missouri | |
|---|---|
| City | |
 Location of Keytesville, Missouri |
|
| Coordinates: 39°26′3″N 92°56′13″W / 39.43417°N 92.93694°WCoordinates: 39°26′3″N 92°56′13″W / 39.43417°N 92.93694°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| County | Chariton |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.78 sq mi (2.02 km2) |
| • Land | 0.77 sq mi (1.99 km2) |
| • Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2) |
| Elevation | 709 ft (216 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 471 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 458 |
| • Density | 611.7/sq mi (236.2/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 65261 |
| Area code(s) | 660 |
| FIPS code | 29-38468 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0720566 |
Keytesville is a town in Chariton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 471 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Chariton County. Keytesville is the hometown of two notable American generals, Maxwell D. Taylor and Sterling Price.
The town is named for Englishman James Keyte, the town founder. Keyte, a Methodist preacher, purchased a large parcel of land in 1830 and, two years later, donated fifty acres of it to Chariton County for the purpose of establishing a centralized seat of county government. Prior to that time, the county business had been conducted from "Old Chariton," a small village near the confluence of the Chariton and Missouri Rivers. However, incessant disease-spreading mosquitoes and repeated river flooding necessitated a new location.
The first courthouse was constructed in Keytesville between 1833 and 1834. As a two-story, four-room brick building, it survived until September 20, 1864, when it was burned down by the Confederate raiders during the American Civil War. James Keyte constructed the first home in Keytesville, and the first business as well. Both were log structures, with the second doubling as a post office. Keyte is also responsible for the town's first industry of any sort, when he constructed a mill near his home on Muscle Fork Creek. Isaac Redding added a Keytesville's first hotel in August 1842. Keytesville was incorporated on February 3, 1868, by the state of Missouri, and incorporated as a Missouri 4th class city in March 1883.
One of Keytesville's native sons, Sterling Price, was a key figure in Missouri during the Civil War, and violence would be visited on the community as well. As mentioned above, on September 20, 1864, a Confederate force of 250 men—among them George Todd and other members of Quantrill's Raiders —under Major John Thrailkill arrived at the edge of town. This was part of General Price's larger 1864 campaign through the Show Me state, as his forces advanced from eastern Missouri to the Kansas City area along the Missouri river. At the time, Thrailkill's force arrived Keytesville was defended by a small Union detachment of thirty-five men from the Missouri militia, commanded by Lieutenant Anthony Pleyer. Early on the morning of September 20, under a flag of truce, Major Thrailkill demanded the surrender of the Union troops, promising fair treatment. Seeing the situation as hopeless, Pleyer complied. Rather than being taken prisoner, the Union garrison was paroled. Confederate forces then briefly occupied the town, liberating supplies from various merchants, setting the courthouse ablaze and killing two citizens—Chariton County sheriff Robert Carmon and William Young, a Union scout and alleged spy.
...
Wikipedia