Memphis, Missouri
| Memphis, Missouri | |
|---|---|
| City | |
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 Location of Memphis, Missouri |
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| Coordinates: 40°27′39″N 92°10′12″W / 40.46083°N 92.17000°WCoordinates: 40°27′39″N 92°10′12″W / 40.46083°N 92.17000°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| County | Scotland |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.57 sq mi (4.07 km2) |
| • Land | 1.56 sq mi (4.04 km2) |
| • Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2) |
| Elevation | 801 ft (244 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,822 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 1,839 |
| • Density | 1,200/sq mi (450/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 63555 |
| Area code(s) | 660 |
| FIPS code | 29-47270 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0722228 |
Memphis is a city in Scotland County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,822 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Scotland County. Memphis is located adjacent to U.S. Highway 136, east of Lancaster, and west of Kahoka.
Although Scotland County was organized by an act of the Missouri General Assembly on January 29, 1841 the town of Memphis did not come to be until more than two years later. County commissioners met at Sand Hill on May 15, 1843 to select the county seat. A spot near the geographical center of the county was chosen, and after some debate, was named Memphis, after the ancient city of Memphis, Egypt. The name had been previously used by a U.S. Post Office that operated on the North Fabius River a short distance away. The land for the town, about fifty acres, was donated to the county by early settler Samuel Cecil. After being laid out in town lots the original plat of Memphis was filed with county court on October 11, 1843. However a few homes already existed on the site and had for several years, the first being a log cabin constructed in 1835 by Burton Tompkins.
Scotland County's first courthouse, a two-story brick structure, was completed in June, 1845 at a cost of $1,500 dollars. However just a decade later the building was declared unsafe by the county court and a second, larger courthouse was constructed in the middle of the town square in 1856 at a cost of $19,500. The second building served the county well until the turn of the 20th century, but at just forty feet by seventy feet it was becoming increasingly cramped. It was condemned in May, 1905 and razed in early 1907. The current Scotland County courthouse was constructed between October, 1907 and July, 1908 at a cost of $50,000.
Scotland County was the scene of two notable engagements during the American Civil War. On July 13, 1862 Confederate Colonel Joseph C. Porter approached Memphis in four converging columns totalling 125–169 men and captured it with little or no resistance. They first raided the Federal armory, seizing about a hundred muskets with cartridge boxes and ammunition, and several uniforms. The Confederate rounded up all adult males, who were taken to the court house to swear not to divulge any information about the raiders for forty-eight hours. Porter freed all militiamen or suspected militiamen to await parole, a fact noted by champions of his character. Citizens expressed their sympathies variously; Porter gave safe passage to a physician, an admitted supporter of the Union, who was anxious to return to his seriously ill wife. A verbally abusive woman was threatened with a pistol by one of Porter’s troops, perhaps as a bluff. Porter’s troops entered the courthouse and destroyed all indictments for horse-theft; the act is variously understood as simple lawlessness, intervention on behalf of criminal associates, or interference with politically motivated, fraudulent charges.
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