Fredericktown, Missouri
Encyclopedia
Fredericktown is a city in and the county seat
of Madison County
, Missouri
, United States
, in the northeastern foothills of the Ozark Mountains. The population was 3,928 at the 2000 census
. The city is surrounded on three sides (east, west, and south) by the easternmost parcel of the Mark Twain National Forest
.
, a small community about six miles (10 km) to the north. Mine La Motte was first settled by Europeans to mine a large vein of galena
lead ore distributed in dolomite
that reached the surface there. The need for a local source of lead for ammunition made Mine La Motte one of the earliest European settlements in the interior of the North American continent. Another earlier settlement was the French Catholic community of St. Michaels, Missouri, which is located just north of the current Fredericktown site on the other side of Saline Creek. After the Louisiana Purchase
in 1803, the Americanization of the area began in earnest with an influx of second and third generation German Reformed Church settlers from the next county eastward, Bollinger County. In 1819, the area was organized to form Madison County
. The name was chosen to honor James Madison
, who had been the two-term President of the United States up until two years earlier (from 1809 to 1817), and who had handled the Louisiana Purchase
as Secretary of State for Thomas Jefferson
. At the time that Madison County was organized, the land south of Saline Creek was owned by Col. Nathaniel Cook. A new town was laid out on Col. Cook's higher, less flood-prone land, and named Fredericktown in honor of Col. Cook's close friend from Bollinger County, Col. George Frederick Bollinger
.
. Along with its associated Turkey Creek Picnic Area and Millstream Garden Conservation Area, Silver Mines provides miles of beautiful hiking trails along the sides of one of the deepest valleys of the St. Francis River. In the spring, the white waters of the river are also a popular site for kayaking contests. For anyone interested in geology, Silver Mines offers the additional benefit of easy access to an unusual variety of rare minerals (see Geology).
A beautiful location to the east of Fredericktown is the Castor River Shut-Ins, where the Castor River
travels through large boulders of pink granite.
The southwestern part of the county is notable for some of the highest mountains in Missouri, and for steep, beautiful valleys that are for the most part accessible only by foot. Perhaps the most impressive such valley is Cathedral Canyon, which is difficult to get to but provides a spectacular hike between the steep bluffs of Trackler and Glade Dotted Black Mountains. A full list of Madison County hiking trails and scenic areas, and just as importantly, how to access them, can be found at Madison County Parks and Hiking Trails.
consists largely of gentler, more rolling hills ridges of sedimentary dolomite
, while the western edges of the county consist of steep-sided, round-profile hills consisting largely of far more ancient Precambrian
rhyolite
s (heavily compacted and heat-fused volcanic minerals) and beautiful pink granites.
By driving west from Fredericktown on Highway 72 and looking further west, one can witness a rare geological oddity: the fossilization not just of a plant or animal, but of an entire very ancient landscape. As viewed from that vantage point, the round-profile rhyolite
and granite
hills of the western side of Madison County resemble an archipelago
of heavily weathered islands, with the shallow tree-filled valleys taking the place of shallow seas. The resemblance is not a coincidence. These particular hills are in fact fossil islands from the Precambrian period. Even more remarkably, the remnants of the shallow sea in which they once stood can still be seen in the form of sedimentary dolomite
deposits that still lap up gently against the sides of the much harder igneous and metamorphic rock
s of the hills.
The hills were originally islands that developed over an unimaginably long period of gradual erosion, during a geological period when change took place much more slowly than it does today. The islands were subsequently submerged under an ocean, and in time buried under several thousand feet of much softer dolomite
deposits. When the Ozark Mountains plateau
was later pushed upward again, possibly due to an intra-continental mantle plume
that may also have been responsible for some of the abundant ore
deposits of the region, the softer dolomite was weathered away to leave the original Precambrian
islands largely intact. Since juniper
prefers a more alkaline soil, it is sometimes possible to locate the margins of the ancient sea from a distance by looking for the distinctive light green color of junipers growing on the more alkaline oceanic dolomite deposits between the island hills.
Another remnant of the ancient sea can be found in road cuts along Highway 72, where one can find small, rounded granite boulders that once rolled off of the ancient islands and into shallow sea surrounding them. Unlike more familiar forms of granite
, these boulders are so soft that it is often possible to peel onion-like layers from them using only one's hands. The softness of these unusual stones reflects the very slow pace of events in the ancient archipelago, since such deep surface-inward weathering requires that the original rounded granite rocks remain immobile and undisturbed over immense lengths of time. Our much more dynamic modern world breaks such soft layers from rocks long before they can accumulate, so that modern granite rocks age not by getting softer, but by getting smaller.
for the variety of minerals and metals that have been found and commercially mined nearby, including lead
, iron
, copper
, silver
, cobalt
, nickel
, zinc
, tungsten
, and small amounts of gold
, all of which have been mined at various times within a 20 miles (32.2 km) of the town. The mines immediately east of the town, in what has been called the Old Lead Belt, were at one time one of the largest sources of lead in the United States. One of the oldest, and possibly the oldest, lead mines on the North American continent can be found six miles (10 km) north in Mine La Motte
. While little iron or no iron has ever been mined in Madison County, very large deposits of mostly hematite
with associated magnetite
exist 20 miles (32.2 km) to the west in Iron County
. These deposits have been mined since at least Civil War
times.
Also west of Fredericktown but still within Madison County is the Silver Mines Recreation Area, which is situated along a steep river gorge of the St. Francis River
. This area contains the ruins of both a 1920s silver
mine and a World War II era tungsten
mine. Examples of the minerals that were once mined can still be found in the abundant tailings on the south side of the St. Francis River, just downstream of a now-breached stone dam. They consist of metallic-appearing sulfides such as sphalerite
, arsenopyrite
, and marcasite
embedded in opaque veins of quartz
. Careful searchers can also find crystals of wolframite
, a tungsten ore that was mined briefly during World War II
when access to other sources was cut off, and small grains of topaz
, which caused the earlier silver miners of the area considerable economic grief by wearing out their diamond-tipped drills more quickly than anticipated. Both highly magnetic magnetite
and slightly magnetic ilmenite
(titanium ore) grains can be found be found in patches of black sands left along the beach of the main swimming area.
Madison County also contains unique igneous rocks not found anywhere else, such as Devonite, a colorful decorative stone found only in a single igneous intrusion dike
on Mount Devon.
Fredericktown is located at 37°33′34"N 90°17′40"W (37.559436, -90.294533).
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²), of which, 4.3 square miles (11.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (3.17%) is water.
Also found west of Fredericktown but still within Madison County is Black Mountain. Highway E runs along the base of Black Mountain, beside the St. Francis River. While Black Mountain is only the 42nd highest (above sea level) in Missouri, Black Mountain has the largest change in elevation from the base to the summit. The St. Francis River at the base of Black Mountain is about 540 feet above sea level. The summit of Black Mountain is 1,502 feet above sea level, which is a difference of almost 1,000 feet. In contrast, Taum Sauk Mountain, the highest in Missouri, only rises about 700 feet from its base, because it rises from an already elevated plain. Taum Sauk is the highest mountain in Missouri. Black Mountain is the tallest.
of 2000, there were 3,928 people, 1,625 households, and 1,010 families residing in the city. The population density
was 919.9 people per square mile (355.2/km²). There were 1,817 housing units at an average density of 425.5 per square mile (164.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.76% White, 0.20% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.41% from other races
, and 0.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.
There were 1,625 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.8% were married couples
living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 24.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 78.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $21,354, and the median income for a family was $27,149. Males had a median income of $27,593 versus $16,729 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $13,512. About 17.4% of families and 22.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.4% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.
s. Each Ward has two alderman
who serve terms of two years each. In each Ward, the alderman are elected in alternate years. The alderman, the mayor
and several elected and appointed city officers form the city council. The mayor presides over the meetings, and votes only in the event of a tie. The mayor is elected to a two-year term in each even year. The current mayor of the City of Fredericktown is Mark Tripp and Alderman are: Ward I Paul Brown and Harold Thomas, Ward II Rick Polete and Sie Merrimam Sr. and Ward III Karen Wright and Richard Walts 2010).
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Madison County
Madison County, Missouri
Madison County is a county located in the Lead Belt region in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 11,800. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 12,276. Its county seat and largest city is Fredericktown...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in the northeastern foothills of the Ozark Mountains. The population was 3,928 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
. The city is surrounded on three sides (east, west, and south) by the easternmost parcel of the Mark Twain National Forest
Mark Twain National Forest
Mark Twain National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the southern half of Missouri. MTNF was established on September 11, 1939. It is named for author Mark Twain, a Missouri native. The MTNF covers approximately 1.5 million acres , 78,000 acres of which are Wilderness, and National...
.
Early Settlement
The earliest European settlement in the area near what is now Fredericktown was Mine La MotteMine La Motte, Missouri
Mine La Motte is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Missouri, United States. It is located about six miles north of Fredericktown. Europeans discovered lead here, and Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac brought several hundred workers, including slaves from Santo Domingo, to develop mines in...
, a small community about six miles (10 km) to the north. Mine La Motte was first settled by Europeans to mine a large vein of galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
lead ore distributed in dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
that reached the surface there. The need for a local source of lead for ammunition made Mine La Motte one of the earliest European settlements in the interior of the North American continent. Another earlier settlement was the French Catholic community of St. Michaels, Missouri, which is located just north of the current Fredericktown site on the other side of Saline Creek. After the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
in 1803, the Americanization of the area began in earnest with an influx of second and third generation German Reformed Church settlers from the next county eastward, Bollinger County. In 1819, the area was organized to form Madison County
Madison County, Missouri
Madison County is a county located in the Lead Belt region in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 11,800. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 12,276. Its county seat and largest city is Fredericktown...
. The name was chosen to honor James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
, who had been the two-term President of the United States up until two years earlier (from 1809 to 1817), and who had handled the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
as Secretary of State for Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
. At the time that Madison County was organized, the land south of Saline Creek was owned by Col. Nathaniel Cook. A new town was laid out on Col. Cook's higher, less flood-prone land, and named Fredericktown in honor of Col. Cook's close friend from Bollinger County, Col. George Frederick Bollinger
George Frederick Bollinger
George Frederick Bollinger was born in Tryon County, North Carolina. Both Bollinger County, Missouri and Fredericktown, Missouri are named after him.He was the eleventh of the twelve children of Heinrich Bollinger...
.
Recreation Areas
The largest and most accessible recreation area in Madison County is the Silver Mines Recreation Area, which is part of the Mark Twain National ForestMark Twain National Forest
Mark Twain National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the southern half of Missouri. MTNF was established on September 11, 1939. It is named for author Mark Twain, a Missouri native. The MTNF covers approximately 1.5 million acres , 78,000 acres of which are Wilderness, and National...
. Along with its associated Turkey Creek Picnic Area and Millstream Garden Conservation Area, Silver Mines provides miles of beautiful hiking trails along the sides of one of the deepest valleys of the St. Francis River. In the spring, the white waters of the river are also a popular site for kayaking contests. For anyone interested in geology, Silver Mines offers the additional benefit of easy access to an unusual variety of rare minerals (see Geology).
A beautiful location to the east of Fredericktown is the Castor River Shut-Ins, where the Castor River
Castor River (Missouri)
The Castor River rises in southeastern Missouri near Fredericktown. The river flows south to Bollinger County and empties into the Headwater Diversion Channel, which flows into the Mississippi River just south of Cape Girardeau. The river below the Diversion Channel flows south until it reaches...
travels through large boulders of pink granite.
The southwestern part of the county is notable for some of the highest mountains in Missouri, and for steep, beautiful valleys that are for the most part accessible only by foot. Perhaps the most impressive such valley is Cathedral Canyon, which is difficult to get to but provides a spectacular hike between the steep bluffs of Trackler and Glade Dotted Black Mountains. A full list of Madison County hiking trails and scenic areas, and just as importantly, how to access them, can be found at Madison County Parks and Hiking Trails.
Geography
The location of Fredericktown at the border of the northeastern edge of the Ozark Mountains provides a sharp contrast in geography as one travels from east to west. The eastern edge of Madison CountyMadison County, Missouri
Madison County is a county located in the Lead Belt region in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 11,800. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 12,276. Its county seat and largest city is Fredericktown...
consists largely of gentler, more rolling hills ridges of sedimentary dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
, while the western edges of the county consist of steep-sided, round-profile hills consisting largely of far more ancient Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
rhyolite
Rhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
s (heavily compacted and heat-fused volcanic minerals) and beautiful pink granites.
By driving west from Fredericktown on Highway 72 and looking further west, one can witness a rare geological oddity: the fossilization not just of a plant or animal, but of an entire very ancient landscape. As viewed from that vantage point, the round-profile rhyolite
Rhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
and granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
hills of the western side of Madison County resemble an archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
of heavily weathered islands, with the shallow tree-filled valleys taking the place of shallow seas. The resemblance is not a coincidence. These particular hills are in fact fossil islands from the Precambrian period. Even more remarkably, the remnants of the shallow sea in which they once stood can still be seen in the form of sedimentary dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
deposits that still lap up gently against the sides of the much harder igneous and metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
s of the hills.
The hills were originally islands that developed over an unimaginably long period of gradual erosion, during a geological period when change took place much more slowly than it does today. The islands were subsequently submerged under an ocean, and in time buried under several thousand feet of much softer dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
deposits. When the Ozark Mountains plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
was later pushed upward again, possibly due to an intra-continental mantle plume
Mantle plume
A mantle plume is a hypothetical thermal diapir of abnormally hot rock that nucleates at the core-mantle boundary and rises through the Earth's mantle. Such plumes were invoked in 1971 to explain volcanic regions that were not thought to be explicable by the then-new theory of plate tectonics. Some...
that may also have been responsible for some of the abundant ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
deposits of the region, the softer dolomite was weathered away to leave the original Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
islands largely intact. Since juniper
Juniperus virginiana
Juniperus virginiana is a species of juniper native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Great Plains...
prefers a more alkaline soil, it is sometimes possible to locate the margins of the ancient sea from a distance by looking for the distinctive light green color of junipers growing on the more alkaline oceanic dolomite deposits between the island hills.
Another remnant of the ancient sea can be found in road cuts along Highway 72, where one can find small, rounded granite boulders that once rolled off of the ancient islands and into shallow sea surrounding them. Unlike more familiar forms of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, these boulders are so soft that it is often possible to peel onion-like layers from them using only one's hands. The softness of these unusual stones reflects the very slow pace of events in the ancient archipelago, since such deep surface-inward weathering requires that the original rounded granite rocks remain immobile and undisturbed over immense lengths of time. Our much more dynamic modern world breaks such soft layers from rocks long before they can accumulate, so that modern granite rocks age not by getting softer, but by getting smaller.
Geology
Fredericktown is nearly unique in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the variety of minerals and metals that have been found and commercially mined nearby, including lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
, nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
, zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
, and small amounts of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, all of which have been mined at various times within a 20 miles (32.2 km) of the town. The mines immediately east of the town, in what has been called the Old Lead Belt, were at one time one of the largest sources of lead in the United States. One of the oldest, and possibly the oldest, lead mines on the North American continent can be found six miles (10 km) north in Mine La Motte
Mine La Motte, Missouri
Mine La Motte is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Missouri, United States. It is located about six miles north of Fredericktown. Europeans discovered lead here, and Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac brought several hundred workers, including slaves from Santo Domingo, to develop mines in...
. While little iron or no iron has ever been mined in Madison County, very large deposits of mostly hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
with associated magnetite
Magnetite
Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...
exist 20 miles (32.2 km) to the west in Iron County
Iron County, Missouri
Iron County is a county located in the Lead Belt region in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 10,697. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 9,918. The largest city and county seat is Ironton...
. These deposits have been mined since at least Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
times.
Also west of Fredericktown but still within Madison County is the Silver Mines Recreation Area, which is situated along a steep river gorge of the St. Francis River
St. Francis River
The Saint Francis River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States...
. This area contains the ruins of both a 1920s silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
mine and a World War II era tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
mine. Examples of the minerals that were once mined can still be found in the abundant tailings on the south side of the St. Francis River, just downstream of a now-breached stone dam. They consist of metallic-appearing sulfides such as sphalerite
Sphalerite
Sphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...
, arsenopyrite
Arsenopyrite
Arsenopyrite is an iron arsenic sulfide . It is a hard metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral with a relatively high specific gravity of 6.1. When dissolved in nitric acid, it releases elemental sulfur. When arsenopyrite is heated, it becomes magnetic and gives off toxic fumes...
, and marcasite
Marcasite
The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both structures do have in common that they contain the disulfide...
embedded in opaque veins of quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
. Careful searchers can also find crystals of wolframite
Wolframite
Wolframite WO4, is an iron manganese tungstate mineral that is the intermediate between ferberite and huebernite . Along with scheelite, the wolframite series are the most important tungsten ore minerals. Wolframite is found in quartz veins and pegmatites associated with granitic intrusives...
, a tungsten ore that was mined briefly during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when access to other sources was cut off, and small grains of topaz
Topaz
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces.-Color and varieties:...
, which caused the earlier silver miners of the area considerable economic grief by wearing out their diamond-tipped drills more quickly than anticipated. Both highly magnetic magnetite
Magnetite
Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...
and slightly magnetic ilmenite
Ilmenite
Ilmenite is a weakly magnetic titanium-iron oxide mineral which is iron-black or steel-gray. It is a crystalline iron titanium oxide . It crystallizes in the trigonal system, and it has the same crystal structure as corundum and hematite....
(titanium ore) grains can be found be found in patches of black sands left along the beach of the main swimming area.
Madison County also contains unique igneous rocks not found anywhere else, such as Devonite, a colorful decorative stone found only in a single igneous intrusion dike
Dike (geology)
A dike or dyke in geology is a type of sheet intrusion referring to any geologic body that cuts discordantly across* planar wall rock structures, such as bedding or foliation...
on Mount Devon.
Fredericktown is located at 37°33′34"N 90°17′40"W (37.559436, -90.294533).
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²), of which, 4.3 square miles (11.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (3.17%) is water.
Also found west of Fredericktown but still within Madison County is Black Mountain. Highway E runs along the base of Black Mountain, beside the St. Francis River. While Black Mountain is only the 42nd highest (above sea level) in Missouri, Black Mountain has the largest change in elevation from the base to the summit. The St. Francis River at the base of Black Mountain is about 540 feet above sea level. The summit of Black Mountain is 1,502 feet above sea level, which is a difference of almost 1,000 feet. In contrast, Taum Sauk Mountain, the highest in Missouri, only rises about 700 feet from its base, because it rises from an already elevated plain. Taum Sauk is the highest mountain in Missouri. Black Mountain is the tallest.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 3,928 people, 1,625 households, and 1,010 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 919.9 people per square mile (355.2/km²). There were 1,817 housing units at an average density of 425.5 per square mile (164.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.76% White, 0.20% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.41% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.
There were 1,625 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 24.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 78.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $21,354, and the median income for a family was $27,149. Males had a median income of $27,593 versus $16,729 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $13,512. About 17.4% of families and 22.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.4% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.
Local government
The City of Fredericktown is divided into three wardWard (subnational entity)
A ward is a subdivision of a municipality. Wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to the area...
s. Each Ward has two alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
who serve terms of two years each. In each Ward, the alderman are elected in alternate years. The alderman, the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and several elected and appointed city officers form the city council. The mayor presides over the meetings, and votes only in the event of a tie. The mayor is elected to a two-year term in each even year. The current mayor of the City of Fredericktown is Mark Tripp and Alderman are: Ward I Paul Brown and Harold Thomas, Ward II Rick Polete and Sie Merrimam Sr. and Ward III Karen Wright and Richard Walts 2010).
Schools
- Elementary SchoolElementary schoolAn elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s (Grammar) (K-5)- Fredericktown Elementary School (K-2)
- Fredericktown Intermediate School (3-5)
- Middle SchoolMiddle schoolMiddle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
(Junior High) (Grades 6-8)- Fredericktown Middle School (Burned down Saturday, April 10, 2010)
- High SchoolHigh schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
(Grades 9-12)- Fredericktown High School
External links
- Historic maps of Fredericktown in the Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection at the University of MissouriUniversity of MissouriThe University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...