County of city hall: Lincoln County
Location of city hall: MO-E & 1st St., Silex
Phone: 573-384-5959
The Person:
David E. Rice
Born: January 16, 1948 - Kansas City, Missouri
Died: November 27, 2015 - Silex, Missouri
Died of Injuries from a motor vehicle accident
Married: Helen Neth, June 17, 1967 in Sedalia, Missouri
"He was a member of the United States Airforce reserves for 6 years. David grew up farming, building and driving heavy equipment. He was able to take nothing and turn it into something. He retired from St Charles County Parks and Recreation in 2012. That's when he decided his work wasn't finished, so he decided to run for and was elected Mayor of the small town of Silex after being an alderman for a few years." ~ Bibb-Veach Funeral Home
The Place:
The original city hall was damaged beyond repair in the flooding in 2015. The city moved city hall to a trailer up on top of the hill, away from future floods, until a final decision on the location of a permanent city hall could be decided.
Finally, in 2016, the city purchased a building built as Barney-T's", and most recently O'Keefe's Bar & Grill," and remodeled the inside to meet the city's needs.
On January 11, 2016, the city officials met for the first time in the new digs.
"Silex is situated on the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad, twelve miles northwest of Troy. In 1880 George P. Smith was engaged in the mercantile business at a point called Cave City, just beyond the rock-cut north of where Silex now (1888) stands, and when the railroad was completed to the site of Silex, he moved his stock of goods there and opened the first store in the town... The town was laid out and platted in 1882, by Portas B. Weare.
In 1888 there were a general store and lumberyard; furniture and undertaking store, millinery store, blacksmith shop, etc.
J.C. Kimbler was postmaster; T.B. Duncan had a corn mill..." ~ History of Lincoln County, 1888, Goodspeed, pages 427, 428
"The post office was established by 1886. Silex owes its name to its special formation of rock, silex, a name for silica, especially in the form of quartz." ~ Postal Guide, page 127
"It had a public school, a church, flouring mill, two saw mills, a bank, and about half a dozen other business places, including a hotel, stores, shops, etc. Population (1899) estimated, 200." ~ Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, 1901, Conard, Vol. V, page 593
"It is situated on Section 6 & 7, Township 50 N, Range 1 W on E east of the junction with H." ~ General Scheme of Missouri, 1905, Taft, Railroad clerks manual