Map of Stotts City

Stotts City is a city in Lawrence County, Missouri, United States. The population was 220 at the 2010 census. It was estimated to be 217 by the City of Stotts City as of July 1, 2019.

Stotts City city overview:
Name:	Stotts City city
LSAD Code:	25
LSAD Description:	city (suffix)
State:	Missouri
County:	Lawrence County
Elevation:	1,145 ft (349 m)
Total Area:	0.51 sq mi (1.33 km²)
Land Area:	0.51 sq mi (1.33 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	167
Population Density:	326.17/sq mi (126.00/km²)
ZIP code:	65756
Area code:	417
FIPS code:	2970990
GNISfeature ID:	0727160

Online Interactive Map

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Stotts City online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Stotts City location map. Where is Stotts City city?

Stotts City location on the U.S. Map. Where is Stotts City city. — Stotts City location on the U.S. Map.

Stotts City location on the Missouri map. Where is Stotts City city. — Location of Stotts City in Missouri.

History

The town was settled in the early 1870s and was originally known as ‘Pax’, then later as ‘Belle Plaine’. It was incorporated in 1896 and renamed in memory of its founder, Capt. Greene Casey Stotts, who died in 1876. Stotts held a command in the US Army during the Civil War, distinguished himself while in charge of the 76th Enrolled Missouri Militia, Co. D, the 7th E Missouri Militia, Co. C, and the 15th Missouri Cavalry, Company C. He later represented Lawrence County in the Missouri state legislature.

Stotts discovered galena and hemimorphite deposits west of the town and began to develop the lead mining industry that later fueled Stotts City’s booming growth. He founded the Stotts City Mining Company in July, 1873. The Lawrence County Land & Mining Company, formed in 1888, handled the product of the Stotts City Mining District.

In its heyday, Stotts City was home to several banks, a large hardware store, The Farmers Exchange Co-op, a cooperative enterprise of the local grain and dairy farmers, a school and numerous churches, and even had a volunteer brass band and a newspaper, The Stotts City Sunbeam, published from 1901 until the end of 1907. The population of Stotts City peaked at 902 in 1900. By 1910, the population dropped to 548.

Soon after the end of World War I, the demand for lead ore from the Lawrence County Land & Mining Company subsided, as groundwater issues made it increasing difficult and expensive to mine. With a depressed agricultural industry in the 1920s, the 1929 stock market crash and Great Depression, Stotts City suffered a further reduction in population, a loss of retail businesses and closure of its one remaining bank. By December 1942, the mines and the Stotts City Mining Company were closed.

The construction of U.S. Route 66 north of Stotts City and later, Interstate 44 south of town, provided an opportunity for increased commerce. Establishments such as “Hattie’s Hamburger Heaven” became regional favorites.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Farmers Exchange Co-op provided feed grain and seed for most of western Lawrence County. Until the mid-1970s, Stotts City bore a remarkable resemblance to the classic movie ‘western town’, with its wide main street and rows of buildings with false fronts. The old bandstand, at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Center streets, still stands; a relic of the late 19th century, as does the old native-stone schoolhouse and First Baptist Church, both built in 1898. Several descendants of the earliest residents of Stotts City still live in the area.