ONLY- town in the world named St. Patrick - St. Patrick, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 40° 15.784 W 091° 37.610
15T E 616764 N 4457860
Only town in the world named for the Irish patron saint
Waymark Code: WMMPX1
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 10/22/2014
Views: 2
County of only: Clark County
Location of only: MO 81, N. of Canton & S. of Kahoka, MO
Population today: Approx 20
Biggest claim to fame other that ONLY: Shrine of St. Patrick
"St. Patrick, Missouri, USA
some of the History
Come see our "Little Bit of Ireland"
in the Northeast Missouri Hills
From Ireland to America came the immigrants, bringing with them customs, music, faith and love. They used a symbol proclaiming love for both countries - the harp for Ireland and the eagle for America.
Their Descendants would inherit this way of life. Some of these Irish Catholics settled St Patrick, Missouri in 1833. Over 100 yrs later (1935) a young Irish priest, Fr Francis O'Duignan (born in Co. Longford Ireland) came to St Patrick.
He dreamed of building a Shrine that would do honor to St Patrick, in a country where millions of Irishmen had found refuge. What better place than St Patrick, Missouri . . . the only town in the world (with a post office) bearing the name of Ireland's patron saint.
Knowing the task was too great for a small farming community, Fr O'Duignan sent letters all over the world asking for donations - and on each letter he placed the shamrock cachet, he designed in 1936, stating
St Patrick, Missouri
'The Only One in the World'
He believed St Patrick would bless all who aided in making this Missouri Shrine possible. His dream was realized when the Shrine of St Patrick was dedicated March 17, 1957. The style was Celtic, complete with Celtic crosses, round bell tower and 37 stained glass windows made in Dublin, Ireland. It was fashioned after the Church of Four Masters in Donegal, Ireland.
The post office has played an important role in St Patrick, since it was first granted in 1858. Traditionally, each year, letters come from all over the world to be mailed on March 17th with the special green shamrock cachet, along with the traditional regulation postmark. It takes the cancellation and shamrock cachet to change an ordinary envelope into a collector's item."
~ mayo-ireland