County of city: Lincoln County
Location of city: MO-79 & Cuivre River, lower Lincoln County
Location of city hall: 151 Main St. (Old MO-79), Old Monroe
Elevation: 440'
Population: 277 (2013)
"A town in the southeast part of of Monroe Township. It was the first county seat from 1818 until the latter part of 1822 when Alexandria (q.v.), which was more centrally located, took its place. Later the seat of government was again moved from Alexandria to Troy, which had a site inaccessible to water. Old Monroe was laid out by 1818 by Ira and Almond Cottle and Nathaniel Simonds. It was originally called Monroe, for President James Monroe (1758-1831), who served from 1817-1825. Meanwhile Monroe County was named for him in the year of his death; and its county seat, Monroe City, was laid out in 1857. To distinguish the Lincoln County town from these, when it was established as a post office its name was changed to Old Monroe." ~ State Historical Society of Missouri
"Monroe, or "Old Monroe," as it is commonly called, is situated on the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad, at the crossing of the Cuivre, the town being wholly on the north side of the river. It is located in the southeastern part of Lincoln County, and, having been the first county seat thereof, it is one of the most historic places in the county. It is also noted for the beautiful mounds that have been constructed there in former ages. The site is beautiful, but the town is small. The original town was laid out some time prior to 1819, by Ira and Almond COTTLE and Nathaniel SIMONDS, the original proprietors. A large portion of it was donated in 1819 to the county for the seat of justice. The large brick house now owned and occupied by Herman NIEMEYER was built some seventy-eight years ago, about the year 1810. The county was organized in this house, and the courts held therein while the county seat remained at Monroe, In August, 1820, Almond COTTLE was licensed to keep a "tavern" the fee being $10 for a year. It is presumed that this is the house in which the "tavern" was kept. With the exception of the NIEMEYER residence there had been nothing at Monroe, in the way of buildings, for many years, until the railroad drew near its completion, when it began to revive. It was re-surveyed in 1880 by Charles DU BOIS, a civil engineer, and since that time the town as it now exists has principally been built. It contains two general stores kept, respectively, by Albert ISENSTEIN and Herman NIEMEYER; a hotel, grocery and livery stable by W. H. POLLARD; a hotel by Henry H. PIEPER, and a blacksmith shop by Herman BRUNES. ISENSTEIN also deals in furniture and farm implements. There is a daily mail between Monroe and Chain of Rocks. The railroad bridge, across the Cuivre at Monroe, has twice been swept away by the pressure of drift collected when the water was high. On the last occasion the drift contained 1,600 saw logs, which floated from the Cuivre and its tributaries. The present bridge is a magnificent one, made mostly of iron. During the last year immense cribs of stone have been constructed in the river, above the bridge piers, to prevent the drift from striking them. It is believed that these cribs of stone will be sufficient to resist the pressure of any amount of drift that will be likely to collect in the future, and thus enable it to be broken and floated down between the piers without injury to the bridge." ~ History of Lincoln County, 1888