Neosho

History

Starting in the late 1820s, European-American settlers of English, Scottish, German, Welsh, and Scots-Irish ancestry began moving into the area. The first of these settlers was Lunsford Oliver, who migrated from Tennessee in 1829 and located near Shoal Creek. He was the namesake for Oliver's Prairie. His nearest neighbors were in Springfield, sixty miles to the east. In 1831 he was joined by Nathaniel Turner, John Smith, Joseph Ross, Campbell Pure, Blake Wilson, Levi Lee, Carmac Ratcliffe, and George McInturf. McInturf built a corn mill, the first mill of any kind in the region. Soon afterward came Mathew H. Ritchie, who founded the town of Newtonia near Oliver's Prairie, and John W. McCord, who settled near Walbridge Spring with Levie Lee and founded the town Neosho to the west. In these years, the region was called "Six Bulls", a colloquial reference to "six boils", referring to the large streams that flowed through the area – Shoal Creek, Center Creek, Indian Creek, Spring River, and North Fork. By 1835, at least three schools had been established along Shoal Creek, and a teacher named Billingsley taught near Neosho. The earliest known religious effort dates to 1836, when Methodist Circuit riders visited the area and held meetings in settlers' log cabins. In 1843, Rev. Anthony Bewley was appointed to the Neosho and Granby circuit, establishing the first permanent churches in Six Bulls. Rev. John W. McCord was involved in organizing Neosho Presbytery, a Cumberland Presbyterian congregation at New Salem Campground, on May 15, 1837. These early settlers were sometimes visited by Native Americans from the Southeast United States, who had been relocated from Georgia to the Indian Territory a few miles west of later Kansas under the Indian Removal Act. They…

Geography

Neosho is in south central Newton County approximately 15 miles south-southeast of Joplin. It is at the intersection of US routes 60 and 71. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Neosho is noted for numerous springs including: Also known historically as Clark Spring, Big Spring is Neosho's largest spring and is located near the historic downtown in the city's main park, Big Spring Park. This spring issues at the base of a high bluff of Mississippian limestone from a series of cavernous openings developed along a bedding plane, and flows through the city park. Also known as historically as Walbridge Spring, located east of the Big Spring and a block east of the courthouse square, Bell's Iron Spring played an important role in Neosho's development. Originally rising in the valley and capable of supplying a city of 50,000 people, though hidden from view for many years, this spring is currently the focus of an ongoing restoration project, which includes plans to re-expose the spring and redevelop the surrounding property as a public historic park. Due to the recent discovery of the presence of endangered Ozark cave fish in the spring, the city is working closely with Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Hearrell, McMahon, Bartholic, and Elm Springs supply water to the Neosho National Fish Hatchery. In 1888, Hearrell Spring, named after Lemuel B Hearrell, began supplying water to the newly built hatchery. In 1908, McMahon Spring was added to supply the hatchery's fish rearing ponds, after its condemnation under the governmental power of eminent domain. In 1964, after the closing of nearby Fort Crowder, additional water was supplied by Elm Spring and Bartholic…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• NEOSHO HIGH
  High · NEOSHO · 1,491 students · 18.4:1 ratio
• NEOSHO JR. HIGH
  Middle · NEOSHO · 748 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• MIDDLE SCH.
  Middle · NEOSHO · 720 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• GRANBY
  Elementary · GRANBY · 587 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER ELEM.
  Elementary · NEOSHO · 551 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• BENTON ELEM.
  Elementary · NEOSHO · 505 students · 14:1 ratio
• EAST NEWTON HIGH
  High · GRANBY · 431 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• SOUTH ELEM.
  Elementary · NEOSHO · 277 students · 13.2:1 ratio