Pilot Grove in Cooper County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Pilot Grove - 1873

Photographed by Jason Voigt, May 14, 2024

1. Pilot Grove - 1873 Marker

Inscription. Pilot Grove received its name from an extensive grove of hickory trees surrounding a watering place, a welcome sight to travelers across the featureless prairie.

Two trails met here: one from the Missouri River to the southwest (Georgetown Road) and the other heading northwest to Independence, skirting the Chouteau Land Grant.

The first recorded settlement was one mile south at Mt. Vernon Branch, around 1820. Here the Cumberland Presbyterians began a Brush Arbor Church and Cemetery, with a school, mill, Methodist church, Harris store to follow. John McCutcheon was first postmaster appointed in 1833. Residents along the Georgetown Road saw Gen. Lyon's Union march from Boonville to defeat at Springfield in 1861; "Bloody Bill" Anderson's Raid Oct. 1863, and the arrival of the MKT railroad in 1873, a visit from the "Orphan Train" in the 1920s and a munitions train wreck May 6, 1945.

Commercial development moved north toward the railhead when Pilot Grove became a platted town, formally chartered in 1873, on farmland of Samuel Roe (Postmaster, 1855-1872).

The present Catholic Baptist, Methodist and former Presbyterian

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and Christian church congregations date from this time as well as the old city hall and calaboose.

The business district boasted banks, shops and two newspapers, the "Pilot Grove Bee" and a German weekly. The present recreational park was home to a CCC camp built in 1939 during the Depression years.

This marker stands on the site of the former Goode Hotel.

(list of names of early landowners and settlers)

Erected 2003 by Friends of Pilot Grove.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is May 6, 1945.

Location. 38° 52.482′ N, 92° 54.698′ W. Marker is in Pilot Grove, Missouri, in Cooper County. It is at the intersection of Roe Street and College Street (Missouri Route 135), on the right when traveling west on Roe Street. Marker is at Lions Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 207 Roe Street, Pilot Grove MO 65276, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Missouri River Corridor.

It is also in the

Photographed by Jason Voigt, May 14, 2024

2. Pilot Grove - 1873 Marker

Marker is at Lions Park

American Midwest,

in the Lewis & Clark Corridor,

in the Corn Belt,

and on the Santa Fe Trail Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Harriman Millstone (a few steps from this marker); Pilot Grove to Clifton City (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Pilot Grove to Boonville (about 400 feet away); Early Travel Route (about 400 feet away); History of Pilot Grove (about 400 feet away); The Journey of Lewis & Clark: de Bourgmont Access (approx. 5.1 miles away); Blackwater Veterans Memorial (approx. 8.4 miles away); Osage Chieftain (approx. 8½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pilot Grove.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 21, 2024. It was originally submitted on May 21, 2024, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois. This page has been viewed 278 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 21, 2024, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.