Moberly, Missouri
| Moberly, Missouri | |
|---|---|
| City | |
 Location within Randolph County and Missouri |
|
| Coordinates: 39°25′13″N 92°26′20″W / 39.42028°N 92.43889°WCoordinates: 39°25′13″N 92°26′20″W / 39.42028°N 92.43889°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| County | Randolph |
| Founded | 1866 |
| Incorporated | 1868 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-manager government |
| • Mayor | Bob Riley |
| • City Manager | Andrew Morris |
| Area | |
| • Total | 12.26 sq mi (31.75 km2) |
| • Land | 12.22 sq mi (31.65 km2) |
| • Water | 0.04 sq mi (0.10 km2) |
| Elevation | 866 ft (264 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 13,974 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 13,987 |
| • Density | 1,143.5/sq mi (441.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 65270 |
| Area code(s) | 660 |
| FIPS code | 29-49034 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0729342 |
| Website | moberlymo.org |
Moberly is a city in Randolph County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,974 at the 2010 census.
Moberly was founded in 1866, and named after Colonel William E. Moberly, the first president of the Chariton and Randolph County railroads.
Like other towns in the Little Dixie region of Missouri in which it is located, Moberly has a history of racial violence. On February 18, 1893, John Hughes, an African American, was lynched by whites because he was deemed to have insulted a white person. In November 1919, meanwhile, four African-American men alleged to have beaten and robbed a white farmer were arrested. A mob of white men built a fire in Forest Park -- today's Rothwell Park -- and removed the arrested men from the jail. When they attempted to hang George Adams, one of the African-American men, from a tree, the limb broke and when Adams tried to escape the mob shot him dead. The Kansas City Star called the event "a disgrace to the community and the state."
The Missouri state Moberly Correctional Center was constructed two miles south of Moberly in 1963 as a minimum-security prison. As of 2014 it houses about 1800 minimum and medium security inmates.
On Independence Day, 1995, a tornado ripped through downtown Moberly. There were no reported deaths, but there was a large amount of structural damage. Another tornado tore through the area (Renick) on Sunday, March 12, 2006. Four people were killed and thirteen were injured in the F3-level tornado. Dozens of homes were destroyed.
The World War II-era US Navy frigate USS Moberly (PF-63) was named for the town. The ship participated mostly in convoy escort, earning a battle star for her assistance in sinking a German submarine U-853.
Moberly is mentioned in the Tom Waits song "Black Market Baby," from the 1999 album Mule Variations.
The city of Moberly was born of a railroad auction on September 27, 1866. The county incorporated the town in 1868 with a board of trustees. The same year that the Wabash Railroad shops were finished in Moberly, the city entered a charter into state record and incorporated. At the time, there was no such thing as a council-manager government, but the 1950s saw the government form come into vogue in Missouri. Now, the city of Moberly has a council-manager government. The council consists of five members elected for three-year terms and one city counselor who drafts ordinances and acts as legal counsel. Each year, the council elects one of its members as mayor and one as mayor pro tempore to serve for one year. To manage the city and oversee day-to-day operations, the council selects a city manager. In 2015, the government had these officers:
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