Peculiar

History

Early settlers of the town came to Western Missouri by riverboat from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Peculiar also had families coming from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. On July 29, 1868, the county surveyor, Robert Cass, platted Peculiar and was filed as "The Town of Peculiar". In an alternate version, according to Missouri folklorist Margot Ford McMillen, early settlers were searching for a location to farm. As they cleared a small rise and looked below, one remarked, "Well that's peculiar! It's the very place I saw in a vision back in Connecticut." The land was purchased and eventually a village sprang up on it, which was named "Peculiar". Peculiar incorporated as a village in the 1890s and became a fourth class city of the state of Missouri in 1953. In 2024, the city blocked the Harper Road Technology Park, a proposed $1.5 billion, 504-acre data center project by [https://www.diodeventures.com Diode Ventures], after pushback from local residents. In June 2026, mayor John Shatto explained the debate over the data center created more community engagement with local government. "That was our turning point," he said. "The town banded together, stuck together."

Geography

Peculiar is located adjacent to Interstate 49/U.S. Route 71 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. Old Peculiar lies one mile to the east along the banks of the East Fork East Branch South Grand River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,188
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,833
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,424
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,724
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,576
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,394
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,347
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  5,663

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2024-03-15
  2 km NE of Ferrelview, Missouri
• M 2.6 — 2015-04-04
  3 km ESE of Clinton, Missouri
• M 2.8 — 2014-11-13
  5 km WNW of Prescott, Kansas
• M 3.3 — 2005-05-18
  Missouri