Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site in New Madrid

New Madrid, Missouri

New Madrid is a city in New Madrid County, Missouri, 42 miles south by west of Cairo, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. New Madrid was founded in 1788 by American frontiersmen. In 1900, 1,489 people lived in New Madrid, Missouri; in 1910, the population was 1,882. The population was 3,334 at...

, 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...

, is maintained by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources

Missouri Department of Natural Resources

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources of the government of the U.S. state of Missouri consists of the Division of Environmental Quality, the Division of Geology and Land Survey, the Division of State Parks, the Environmental and Energy Resources Authority, and the Field Services Division....

 as historic house museum and a state historic site

Historic site

A historic site is an official location where pieces of political, military or social history have been preserved. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have recognized with the official national historic site status...

.

History

The 15 room house with nine fireplaces was built in 1860 by William and Amanda Hunter, local store owners. Their daughter Ella and her husband William Dawson

William Dawson (Missouri)

William Dawson was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.Born in New Madrid, Missouri, Dawson was graduated from Christian Brothers' College in St. Louis, Missouri in 1869....

inherited it in 1876. It remained in the family until 1958, and later was purchased by the city in 1966 before being donated to the state. The museum retains much of the original furniture.

External links

• Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site