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History of Plattsburg
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| In
1833, twenty years
before the founding of Kansas City, Missouri, the town now known as Plattsburg
was created to be the county seat of the newly formed
Clinton County. Originally, Plattsburg was called Concord
but two months later that name was changed to Springfield. However, it was found that
there was another town by that name in Missouri. One year later, in January of
1835, the name "Plattsburg" was borrowed from Plattsburgh, New York,
which is the county seat of Clinton County, New
York. This in turn was named for the Vice
President, George Clinton, who is the namesake for
Clinton County, Missouri. |
Riley-Carmack Historical Museum
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For
a brief period of time during the 1830's, Plattsburg was
home to a Federal land office for the newly opened areas
of northern Missouri and was one of the farthest western
non-military settlements in the United States until the
Platte Purchase in 1836. One
of Plattsburg's most famous residents was Senator David
Rice Atchison, whose claim to fame was "President
for One Day." President Elect Zachary
Taylor, and Vice President Elect Millar Fillmore,
refused to be sworn into office on the Sabbath,
therefore under current law, Atchison was believed by
some to be Acting President for that day. During
the Civil War, Plattsburg was divided between both
Confederate and Federal forces. During this time,
Plattsburg history shows at least one church
denomination was split between northern and southern
support; however, the county in general tended to sway
more towards southern beliefs. Areas around
Plattsburg have long been a fertile and somewhat flat
land, perfect for growing crops like tobacco and hemp,
which may have accounted for their general inclination
towards southern support. During
the late 1880-1900's many new
"Victorian" homes were built, many of which
are still in existence today.
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| Modern facilities came
early for Plattsburg, with homes built in the 1920's
equipped for electricity. The original sewage
system was installed in 1928. In 1956
there were 275 local customers using natural gas from
wells located east of the city limits. Plattsburg's
size expanded in 1967, when a man-made ten-acre lake was
built to attract new housing. |
Ye Old Town of Plattsburg
Date unknown
Electric poles and buggies estimate 1910-1929
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In
1978-1980, a water treatment plant was built at a cost
of over $1 million dollars. (The city paid
$540,000 from a revenue bond issue). In the late
1960's, the city agreed to purchase water from the Corps
out of Smithville Lake. Now, cities such as
Trimble, Caldwell County Water District 3, and Clinton
County Water Districts 1 and 4, are connected to this
water plant.
In 1985, a new
wastewater plant was built, costing around $2 million
dollars, with the city contributing $265,000. In
2002, the new Plattsburg City Hall was opened. The
building houses the City Department Offices, the
Plattsburg Police Department, and contains the City
Council Chambers. On Memorial
Day, 2004, the new Plattsburg Municipal Pool, Bodies
Pool, was open.
| In
2004, Larry Fisher, a local attorney, began a
campaign to revitalize Plattsburg's Downtown. The
Main Street Improvement's Committee was
formed in coordination with the City of
Plattsburg to repave roads, repair sidewalks,
and install period lighting downtown. |
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Examples of the downtown
renovation
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| This included removing old
electric poles and replacing them with
underground wires and new lights that better
suited the older "heritage" Plattsburg
was looking for. In addition, in May of 2005,
the City of Plattsburg was awarded a $400,000
Community Development Block Grant from the
Missouri Department of Economic Development,
which was also meant to aid with the renovation
of the downtown area.
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