County of Marker: Dade County
Location of Marker: US-160 & MO-39, roadside triangle park, Greenfield
Marker Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission
Date Marker Erected: 1961
Marker Text:
DADE COUNTY
Encompassing 504 sq. miles of the west slope of Missouri's Ozarks, Dade County was organized in 1841 and named for Maj. Francis L. Dade killed in Florida War with Seminoles in 1835. In territory ceded by Osage tribes in 1808, the county was early settled by Southern pioneers.
Greenfield, the county seat, laid out 1841, in on a plateau above nearby Turnback Creek. The town site, with rolling prairies on the west and wooded hills on the east, was given by Matthias and Mary Allison. Here was Ozark (Presby.) College, 1881-1903, founded as an academy, 1870.1 In Ebenezer Presbyterian Church (built in 1854, rebuilt 1884) was organized the Ozark Presbytery, including 25 counties in 1870.
A divided county in the Civil War, Dade suffered guerrilla raids, troop movement, and skirmishes. In Oct., 1863, Union soldiers stationed in Greenfield withdrew at the approach of Confederate General Joseph O. Shelby's troops who burned the courthouse. Rebuilt 1867, the courthouse was replaced in 1934. In 1881, the Kansas City & Memphis R.R. (Frisco) was built through the county.
Dade County dairy, livestock, grain, and fruit farming area was briefly mined for coal, zinc, iron, and more extensively for lead. In 1874, discovery of a 50,000 lbs. lead boulder brought the opening of Corry Mine and founding of the one-time boom town of Corry. Other mines were worked before lead mining stopped in the early 1900's.
Dadeville, once known as Crisp Prairie and Melville, was settled by Redden and John Crisp about 1818. Burned in the Civil War, it was rebuilt and renamed. Arcola, was laid out, 1880; Crisp became a post office in 1890's; and South Greenfield, Everton, and Lockwood were laid out along the railroad in 1881. In the 1880's a number of Germans settled in and around Lockwood.
In Dye Park at Everton is the William Penn log Cabin, first building to serve as a courthouse. Near there is Dilday Mill2; near Greenfield is so-called Spanish Fort built by prehistoric Indians; and near Lockwood is the interdenominational Sinners Union Church. In adjacent Cedar County is site of Stockton Dam impounding the waters of the Sac River in Cedar and Dade Counties.
Updates and corrections since 1961:
1. Ozark College closed its doors in 1900.
2. The Dilday Mill collapsed in 1982.