Butler County Historical Society

The historic area of downtown Poplar Bluff has been the focus of several attempts to revitalize the area. One such effort was a plan developed in 1992 by Paul Kjorli, a St. Louis based urban planner. Mr. Kjorli was hired through a grant from the local telephone company. He visited the area and met with many residents, business leaders and city employees.

Story and Photos by Jennifer Kettler,  Rural Missouri Magazine

July 2005, Volume 57, Number 7   Reprinted here with their permission.

You never know what treasures may lurk in your father-in-law's old filing cabinet. Such is the case for Glenda Payne Mills from Sikeston, Mo., who came across some stunning photographs of downtown Poplar Bluff showing the devastation of the 1927 tornado. She writes:

"My father-in-law was Orville R Payne.  He lived in Sikeston the biggest part of his life.  He movedRead More...

This video showcases Three Rivers Community College Basketball Coach Gene Bess's

induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for his 1,000-win record.

Flash video, click to play. (05:47)

Our brick street is in need of repair! See if you can put it back together.

See if you can find the hidden words significant to Butler County history.

• Learn the history behind these names here.
• Find some of these places on a map of Butler County.

Bricks and Martyrs p>

Too many people look at our town, Poplar Bluff, and miss its colorful history and unique attributes and culture. They see only an ordinary, small rural city with its limitations and its idiosyncrasies. Live here, visit repeatedly or get to know one of our residents. You'll change your view.

Take a self-guided tour presented by the Poplar Bluff Historical Commission. In 1994 and again in 1998, the National Register of Historic Places honored the legacy of Poplar Bluff's founding citizens and those who have followed in thei r footsteps by recognizing 16 building and districts in the city. Seven sites in the city have been designated City Landmarks.

Poplar Bluff was built on the site of a great forest of hardwood trees, gum and cypress. Timber was its first industry. It naturally follows that most of the buildings in the town were built of wood. Only two brick houses will be found in this listing, two stuccos and one stone.

A colorful, fun and informative website developed in 2001 for the City of Poplar Bluff Historical Preservation Commission has been preserved on our web server in its original form. Have a look:

www.butlercountyhistory.org/poplarbluff

Call it the picture show, the talkies, the flicks or the movies, this great celluloid adventure has been the main source of {mos_fb_discuss: no_discuss}entertainment for many Americans since the country’s first story film “The Great Train Robbery” was produced in 1903.

Butler County - Poplar Bluff - Fisk - Read More...

Story and Photos from the Whitfield Foundation Newsletter

April 2008, Volume 1, Reprinted here with their permission.

One of the most significant yet neglected events of recent American labor history was called ‘The Sharecropper Strike of 1939’. Although it was not really a strike,they had no one to strike against. The Sharecroppers had been evicted from their homes, homes to which they had no rights, as owners or as renters. They decided that their goverRead More...

    The history of Shiloh Church must be told in connection with the story of the original settlement in the upper Cane Creek valley where the church was established. Fortunately for local history the Rev. Roy F. LeGrand wrote a short history of the settlement and the church established there and had it published in a booklet title, "Shiloh, The Mother of Preachers."  This was probably the first Methodist church organized in territory to become the present Read More...

    The Methodist Class organized by Rev. Headless in May, 1842, with John Eudaley as class leader, met for several years in the homes of the members.  Concerning the date and location of the first church building we quote Rev. LeGrand:  "There is no record available to the writer that even suggests the time and location of the first church building to house the Shiloh Class.  However, according to information gathered from local sources, the first buildinRead More...

    The recent purchase of the Frisco bridge across the St. Francis River near Rombauer by Stoddard and Butler Counties is a reminder of a much earlier cooperation between these two counties for a bridge across this river at about the same location.  At the time of its organization in 1849 Butler County did not have any bridges.  Soon after the county seat site had been selected and county seat town had been laid out the County Court (Abraham Romine, William VandoveRead More...

    The story of battles and marching men are glamorous, but our heart strings are most touched by incidents that happened to people.  We will devote this article to Butler county people as the war touched their lives.

    In any war there are always interesting stories, some of the fortunes or misfortunes of war, some of wanton cruelty and some with a touch of humor or comedy.  In this chapter we will retell some Civil War incidents of Butler County. 

    An interesting phase of local history is a study of the origin, meaning and development of place names. Some names originated out of the conversations of the early settlers, were not recorded in writing so cannot now be identified with certainty. Some places have had a succession of names. Fortunately for the history student of Butler County the late Miss Cora Ann Pottenger made an extensive research into the place names of five Missouri counties, including Butler. Her woRead More...

    Butler County has had four courthouses, the first being a small two-room frame building sided with matched weatherboarding and located on the southeast corner of the Public Square. Evidently this building was inadequate to the needs of the county as on April 13, 1858, the County Court ordered that Daniel L. Jennings select ten thousand acres of swamp land, sell same on most advantageous terms possible and use the proceeds, "in building of a commodious courthouse on tRead More...

The photos and items shown here were donated to the Butler County Historical Society by Arlie Keener's nephew, Ralph P. Anderson of Long Branch, Texas. According to Mr. Anderson, Arlie Keener lived near the community of Keener Springs in northern Butler County; however, he is listed as a WWII Veteran on the Veteran's Memorial in Greenville, Mo., which is the county seat of Wayne County.

Anyone having information regarding the life and relatives of Arlie, please post your commenRead More...