Kirksville, Missouri

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City of Kirksville, Missouri
Nickname: "The 'Ville"
Location in the state of Missouri
Country	United States
State	Missouri
County	Adair
Government
- Mayor	Martha Rowe
Area
- City	10.5 sq mi (27.2 km²)
- Land	10.5 sq mi (27.1 km²)
- Water	0 sq mi (0.1 km²)
Population (2004)
- City	17,057 (city proper)
- Density	1,624/sq mi (629/km²)
	29014 (micropolitan area)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Website: http://www.kirksvillecity.com

Kirksville is a city in Adair County, Missouri, United States. The population was 16,988 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Adair County^GR6. Kirksville also anchors a micropolitan area that is comprised of Adair and Schuyler counties.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 History 4 Noteworthy events in Kirksville history 4.1 The Big Neck War 4.2 The Battle of Kirksville 4.3 The Kirksville Cyclone 5 Features of interest 5.1 Water sources 5.2 Transportation 5.3 Aviation 5.4 Kirksville media 6 Major employers 7 People Associated with Kirksville and Surrounding Cities 8 External links

[edit] Geography

Kirksville is located at 40°11′37″N, 92°34′58″W (40.19368958, -92.58285181)^GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.2 km² (10.5 mi²). 27.1 km² (10.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.38%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 16,988 people, 6,583 households, and 2,975 families residing in the city. The population density was 627.1/km² (1,624.0/mi²). There were 7,303 housing units at an average density of 269.6/km² (698.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.38% White, 1.73% African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.93% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 1.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.54% of the population.

There were 6,583 households out of which 20.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.8% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 15.6% under the age of 18, 37.6% from 18 to 24, 20.5% from 25 to 44, 14.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 82.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $22,836, and the median income for a family was $36,772. Males had a median income of $26,776 versus $22,309 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,388. About 14.4% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.7% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

The first permanent settlement in Adair County began in 1828. Most of the settlers were from Kentucky. This was twenty-five years after the Louisiana Purchase and four years after the Sac and Fox Indians surrendered their claims to the land. The original settlement was six miles west of present-day Kirksville, along the Chariton River, which later was called The Cabins. The area was named after John Adair who was governor of Kentucky at the time. The Village (now City) of Kirksville was established on a Pre-emption Grant (certificate no. 26406) of the North West Quarter of Section Nine in Township Sixty-Two, of Range Fifteen; in the District of Lands subject to sale at Fayette, Missouri.The Patent was issued under The Act of 26, May, 1824 and The Act of 24, April, 1820 on December 1, 1848. This was based upon claim made by Jonathan Floyd Trustee Adair County Commissioners under the Acts above cited on December 25, 1846 and recorded at the Land Office in Boonville Missouri for the establishment of the County Seat. Though selected in 1841 for the site of the Seat of Justice for Adair County, the Village of Kirksville dates from an Act, approved January 30th 1857 incorporating the Town. In 1841 the site was selected by Jefferson Collins, L. B. Mitchell, and Thomas Ferrell and a plat was established in 1842. In Violette's History of Adair County the town has been identified with Long Point and the apocryphal Hopkinsville. However, a small block-house is distinctly cited as being built in 1832 ("Goodspeed's" 1888 Illustrated History of Adair, Sullivan, Putnam and Schuyler Counties, Missouri on p236) "on the ridge at Long Point, just outside the city limits of Kirksville" and this is born out by the plat and land entries which show no settlements on the actual site until after its selection as the county seat.

According to tradition, Jesse Kirk, Kirksville’s first postmaster, shared a dinner of turkey and whisky with surveyors working in the area on the condition that they would name the town after him. Not only the first postmaster, Kirk was also the first to own a hotel and a tavern in Kirksville (contrary to popular belief, the name of the city has no connection to John Kirk, onetime president of Truman State University). However, the grandson of Jesse Kirk reported that the town was named for Kirk's son John, a figure of local legend credited with killing two deer with a single bullet. "Hopkinsville" was explained as a joking reference to the peculiar gait of John Kirk's lame father-in-law, David Sloan; the jocular name was discarded when the village was selected for the seat of justice in Adair County (Kirksville Daily Express, March 20, 1941).

[edit] Noteworthy events in Kirksville history

[edit] The Big Neck War

"Cabins of White Folks", a very small settlement near what is now Kirksville, had been established for one year in July 1829, when a large party of Iowa (or Ioway) led by Chief Big Neck returned to their former hunting grounds, in violation of treaty. One of the Ioway's dogs killed a pig, and they threatened (or according to some sources insulted) the white women. The settlers sent messengers south to Randolph County. Captain William Trammell led a party north to help, and engaged the Indians. Routed, they returned to the cabins, got the women, and headed for Huntsville. Four of the Randolph men, including Trammell, were killed in the fight. A group of militia under General John B. Clark pursued and apprehended Big Neck and his braves, Big Snake, Young Knight, and One-that-Don't-Care. The Ioway tribesmen were captured March 11, 1830, and put on trial by a grand jury of Randolph County. The jury found on March 31, 1830, that: "After examining all the witnesses, and maturely considering the charges for which these Iowa Indians are now in confinement, we find them not guilty, and they are at once discharged."

source: History of Randolph County

The leniency of the verdict is remarkable, given the racism and hysteria of the period. Other contemporary accounts note that the corpse of Capt. Trammell was undesecrated (fires had been built on the chests of others); according to one Indian who participated in the fight, this was done as a mark of respect for the courage he had shown in the fight.

[edit] The Battle of Kirksville

Main article: Battle of Kirksville

The Battle of Kirksville was fought August 6-9, 1862 during the American Civil War. Union troops led by John McNeil forced Confederate volunteers under Joseph Porter to vacate the city. Casualty estimates (almost entirely Confederate) range from 150-200 dead and up to 400 wounded. According to the August 12, 1862, Quincy Herald there were 8 Federal dead and 25 wounded.

[edit] The Kirksville Cyclone

On the evening of April 27, 1899, a cyclone passing through Adair County cut a path of destruction three blocks wide, killed 32 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings. The popular song "Just as the Storm Passed O'er" was based on the event, and the Kimball Piano Company exploited the incident for its advertising, when one of their instruments was carried a long distance by the tornado but still found in working condition.

The external link below to Special Collections, Pickler Memorial Library at Truman State University provides many photos.

[edit] Features of interest

Kirksville is home to three institutions of higher learning:

• Truman State University, originally the North Missouri Normal School and Commercial College, and more recently Northeast Missouri State University.
• A.T. Still University, home of the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, the founding osteopathic medical school. The campus in Kirksville also includes ATSU's School of Health Management.
• Moberly Area Community College (MACC) operates a Kirksville campus.

[edit] Water sources

Kirksville is served by two watersheds. Hazel Creek Lake, formed in 1982, was first used as a water source the next year. The larger water source, Forest Lake, was formed by the city in the 1950s when it dammed Big Creek. Forest Lake anchors the Thousand Hills State Park, located just west of the city.

[edit] Transportation

State highways 6, 11, and U.S. Highway 63 run through Kirksville. In late 2005, a four-lane stretch of U.S. 63 between Kirksville and Macon opened, partially funded by a one-half cent sales tax passed by Kirksville voters in 2002. However, the new four-lane stretch does not enter Kirksville or Macon; the Missouri Department of Transportation will construct the remaining lanes in 2007, forgoing a bypass of either city.

The City of Kirksville operated the Kirksville Regional Airport (formerly Clarence Cannon Airport), four miles south of the city, by the village of Millard. Kirksville, by way of La Plata, is serviced by Amtrak's Southwest Chief.

[edit] Aviation

In 1952, the United States Air Force opened a radar base that was home to the 790th Radar Squadron, an Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, in Sublette, about 10 mi (15 km) north of Kirksville. The Air Force deactivated the 790th Radar Squadron in 1968. The Federal Aviation Administration took over running the radar and most of the surrounding 78.51 acres were given to Northeast Missouri State University.[1] The current radar, an Air Route Surveillance Radar - Model 3, is a long-range radar that feeds data to air traffic control centers that control aircraft flying over the region.

Three fatal airplane accidents have occurred near Kirksville:

1. On May 6, 1935, a plane carrying Senator Bronson Cutting of New Mexico crashed south of Kirksville, killing him. As a result, Congress created the Civil Aeronautics Administration.[2][3].
2. On May 22, 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11, heading to Kansas City from Chicago under heavy weather, was brought down by a dynamite explosion northwest of Kirksville. Some aviation historians consider this the first act of aviation terrorism in history.
3. On October 20, 2004, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 (now RegionsAir) crashed just south of Kirksville Regional Airport, killing 13 of 15 passengers and crew.

[edit] Kirksville media

Paired with Ottumwa, Iowa, Kirksville is a media market region, ranked 199 by Nielsen, and home to an ABC affiliate, KTVO-TV 3. Kirksville is home to seven main radio stations.

Frequency	Call sign	Nickname	Format	Owner	Web site
1450 AM	KIRX	News, Talk and Good Time Oldies	Oldies Simulcast	KIRX Group	[4]
88.7 FM	KTRM	The Edge	College Radio/Alternative	Truman State University	[5]
89.7 FM	KKTR		National Public Radio Simulcast of KBIA-FM Columbia	Truman State University	[6]
90.7 FM	KGHN	Christian Radio	Religious	C.A.R.E. Broadcasting	[7]
93.7 FM	KTUF	K-TUF	Country Simulcast	KIRX Group	[8]
94.5 FM	KRXL	The X	Classic Rock	KIRX Group	[9]
107.9 FM	KLTE		Religious	Bott Radio Network	[10]

The Kirksville-Ottumwa DMA includes a FOX affiliate, KYOU-TV 15, and is covered by NBC and CBS from Hannibal-Quincy and, in some areas, Kansas City. Radios in Kirksville can also pick up stations from Brookfield, Macon, Moberly, Hannibal-Quincy, and Keokuk, Iowa. Among low-powered translators and micro-broadcasters is 107.5 FM, operated by students from Truman's campus.

In print, Kirksville is served by the Daily Express six days a week and on Thursdays by the Truman Index, the weekly newspaper produced by students at Truman State University.

[edit] Major employers

• Truman State University
• Northeast Regional Health System [11]
• A.T. Still University (includes Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine) web
• Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #189
• Adair Foods (Kraft Foods) [12]
• Kirksville R-III Public School District [13]
• Preferred Family Health Care
• Hollister, Inc. [14]
• Sodexho [15]
• Hy-Vee Store #79 [16]
• Twin Pines Adult Care Center
• Ortech Company
• City of Kirksville municipal government
• Northeast Missouri Health Council, Inc. [17]
• Kirksville Manor Care Center [18]
• Wire Rope of America [19]
• Commercial Envelope Manufacturing [20]

[edit] People Associated with Kirksville and Surrounding Cities

• Joseph Baldwin, founder and first president of Truman State University
• Gordon Bell, early computer engineer
• Robert J. Behnen, a genealogist and former Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives
• John W. Cauthorn, a Republican member of the Missouri State Senate
• Debra Di Blasi[21], prize-winning writer
• Rusty Draper, singer
• Jenna Fischer, best known for her role as Pam Beesly, in the U.S. adaptation of The Office
• Glen Jacobs, a.k.a. "Kane", professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
• Alphonso Jackson, current and 13th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Harry H. Laughlin, eugenics proponent in the early 20th century
• Alex Linder, white supremacist

• Rebecca McClanahan, Professor of Nursing and Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives

• Archie Musick, painter 1902–1978
• Ruth Ann Musick, folklorist and author
• Ken Norton, boxer, one of the few to beat Muhammad Ali
• Geraldine Page, Academy Award-winning actress
• John J. Pershing, General of the Armies of the United States
• Carolyn Roehm, fashion designer and socialite
• Mary Rhodes Russell, judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri, appointed in 2004
• Andrew Taylor Still, founder of Osteopathic Medicine
• Rhonda Vincent, bluegrass singer
• John Wimber, Charismatic Movement leader

[edit] External links

• City of Kirksville website
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 40.19352° -92.579529°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
• The Air Defense Radar Veterans' Associate Web Site - Kirksville AFS
• Truman State University Pickler Memorial Library Special Collections - 1899 Kirksville Cyclone
• Kirksville Arts Association
• Adair County Historical Society
• Thousand Hills State Park