Scott City, Atchison County, Missouri

Scott City is an extinct hamlet in Atchison County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place, but the precise location of the town site is unknown.[1] It was located on the Missouri River, two miles west of Phelps City.[2]

Scott City had the name of its founder, Margaret Scott,[3] who had settled at the site of the community by at least 1850. The town was laid out in 1856,[2] with an addition known as Kalamazoo added in 1865.[4] Business owners in the community included D. C. Billings and R. V. Muir (merchants), J. K. Tift (attorney), Jacob Bruner (saloon keeper), and Flack Wilson (operator of gristmill and sawmill).[5] Scott City died out after the construction of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad; the development of the railroad instead led to growth at Phelps City and Watson.[2] By 1899, the location of Scott City had been washed away by the Missouri River,[5] but a 1939 newspaper article noted that "the land where the town stood has been rebuilt by the uncertain river" but that no remains of the former community were visible.[2]

The community's post office was named North Star.[2] The post office was established in 1857, and remained in operation until 1874.[6]

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Scott City
  2. ^ a b c d e "Know Your County". The Atchison County Mail. July 14, 1939.
  3. ^ "Atchison County Place Names, 1928-1945 (archived)". The State Historical Society of Missouri. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "Old Landing Places on the Missouri River". The Atchison County Mail. November 17, 1911. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Scott City: An Old River Town --- The Town Site Now in the Missouri River". The Atchison County Mail. March 10, 1899. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  6. ^ "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved August 30, 2016.

40°24′N 95°38′W / 40.40°N 95.64°W / 40.40; -95.64