County of sign: Franklin Count
Location of sign: MO Hwy T, across the Hwy from elementary school driveway, Labadie
Sign Text:
Est. 1820
WELCOME
TO HISTORIC
Labadie
"Labaddie, so named from the hunter Labaddie, lost in the vicinity, is situated at the intersection of the Missouri Pacific and Kansas City & Colorado Railroads (now a part of the Missouri Pac. R. R.)...By the latter it is forty-five and nine-tenths miles from St. Louis. Among the first settlers in the vicinity were Michael Crowe, George Pursley, and others including James North. The first house was a log one, 12 x 16 feet. James North is believed to have built the first frame house. The first blacksmith was Henry Bluemberg, and the first shoe-maker Alvin Cardwell. William Thomas was the first grocery keeper." ~ State of Missouri, History of Franklin Co., Goodspeed, p. 339.
"It was laid off in 1855 and had 1 store (1874)." ~ Campbell's Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, p. 204.
"It is in the northeastern corner of the county, 3-1/2 miles north of Gray Summitt." ~ The State of Mo., in 1904, p. 387.
"Labadie: A town in the northwest part of Boles Township, near the mouth of Labaddie Creek (q.v.). It is on land formerly belonging to Sylvestre Labaddie, Jr., who died in 1849, and was named for him (not for Sylvestre Labaddie, Sr., who died in 1794, and had nothing to do with Franklin County, so far as is known). The town was laid out in 1855 by the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The railroad and its express company persist in spelling the name as Labadie, as it is also done in the MISSOURI MANUAL for 1937 and 1938. Both spellings were used in the family history." ~ United States Postal Guide; History of Franklin, page 340; Eaton; Franklin County Atlas, 1878, Page 13; Kiel's Biographical Directory, page 204; Brown's Manuel For Missouri; Plat Book A, page 33