Mine au Breton
| Potosi, Missouri | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Washington County Courthouse
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| Motto: A City for All Seasons | |
 Location of Potosi, Missouri |
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| Coordinates: 37°56′16″N 90°46′55″W / 37.93778°N 90.78194°WCoordinates: 37°56′16″N 90°46′55″W / 37.93778°N 90.78194°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| County | Washington |
| Incorporated | 1826 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.33 sq mi (6.03 km2) |
| • Land | 2.33 sq mi (6.03 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 880 ft (268 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,660 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 2,658 |
| • Density | 1,141.6/sq mi (440.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 63664 |
| Area code(s) | 573 |
| FIPS code | 29-59330 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0751729 |
Potosi is a city in Washington County, Missouri, United States. Potosi is about 10 miles north of Belgrade. The population was 2,660 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. The city was founded sometime between 1760 and 1780 as "Mine à Breton" or Mine au Breton, and later renamed by Moses Austin for the Bolivian silver-mining city of Potosí.
Potosi is located at 37°56′16″N 90°46′55″W / 37.93778°N 90.78194°W (37.937881, -90.781932). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.33 square miles (6.03 km2), all of it land.
A lead mining settlement at this spot, "Mine à Breton" or Mine au Breton, was founded between 1760 and 1780 by Francis Azor, of Brittany, France. Moses Austin came here in 1798 with his family, including his son Stephen F. Austin. Moses obtained a grant of 7,153 arpents of land from the Spanish Empire and started large-scale mining operations, building his town to support it. Moses named the town after Potosí in Bolivia, which was famous for its vast silver mines. Austin's tomb and the foundation of his home Durham Hall can still be seen. Another mining entrepreneur in Potosi at the time of Moses Austin was James Bryan. Firmin Rene Desloge, who emigrated from Nantes, France in 1822 as the progenitor of the Desloge Family in America, located in Potosi and established a mercantile, distillery, fur trading and lead smelting business. The Desloge lead mining business Desloge Lead Company and later Desloge Consolidated Lead Company was later relocated to Bonne Terre, MO and also Desloge, MO by his son Firmin V. Desloge.
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