County of water tower: Sullivan County
Location of water tower: 1st St. & Sherman St., Green City
Text:
HOME OF THE GOPHERS
So you know the gophers
"Green City traces its beginnings to April, 1880 when Sullivan County farmer Henry Pfeiffer commissioned surveyor Thomas J. Dockery to lay out the town in what had previously been a cornfield. The town plat consisted of fifty lots, each 60-by-130 feet. The impetus for the town was the Quincy, Missouri & Pacific railway, which laid tracks close by in the early 1880s. A rail depot was built with donations from area farmers, and in 1881 C. B. Comstock built a store and warehouse. Around the same time a small frame building was moved from the nearby village of Kiddville by S.H. Davis who used it as a post office when he became Green Citys' first postmaster. Green City was officially incorporated on February 10, 1882.
"Green City, Missouri, is the site of Widmark Airport (FAA LID: MO83) in extreme northeastern Missouri. Towns the size of Green City, whose population numbered only 688 inhabitants in 2000, usually do not have airports, but Richard Widmark owned a cattle ranch in the area during the 1950s and 1960s. Richard Widmark contributed funds to the construction of an airport which led to its being named in his honor.
Notable events:
May 25, 1885—Green City College is established. A large three-story brick building was constructed at a cost of $4,500 dollars. The first classes were held October 13, 1883 with thirteen students enrolled. By the end of the first term the number had increased to thirty-three, and the second years enrollment totalled eighty. A one-year college preparatory program comprising four terms was offered as well as a full four-year collegiate program.
November 5, 1931—A large fire destroyed much of the east side of the Green City town square. A total of four buildings, housing at least six businesses and the City Hall, were a complete loss. The only building left standing was that which housed the Bank of Green City and the Green City Hotel.
March 26, 1931—Noted bank robber and "gangster" Fred "Killer" Burke was apprehended near Green City. He had been living there for some time under an assumed name." ~ Wikipedia