Frohna, Missouri

Frohna is a city in southeastern Perry County, Missouri. It had a population of 254 at the 2010 census.

Frohna was one of the communities founded in the Saxon German migration of 1838-39, by traditionalist Lutherans fleeing religious persecution in the Kingdom of Prussia. Some 600 of the settlers arrived in Missouri in early 1839, with the majority moving onto available land in the hills of Perry County and establishing towns named for their native communities back in Germany. Frohna was one of these; it was originally named Niederfrohna ("Lower Frohna"), for a village of the same name in the Mulde river valley near the city of Zwickau. The American community's first pastor, E. G. W. Keyl, had been pastor at the Saxon village before the migration, as well as at the neighboring village of Mittelfrohna ("Middle Frohna"), from which some of the settlers also came. Probably as a result of this mixture, the new town soon came to be called simply Frohna.

Though settlement began in 1839, it was not until 1847 that the community's territory was fixed by the Perry County court, and not until 1886 did it receive a post office.^[1] Due to the many ties between Frohna and the neighboring town of Altenburg, and the small size of each, there was in recent years a movement to formally unite the communities, but it was opposed by a majority of locals, and as of now, the two remain separate cities (though they do share certain public services, such as the fire department).^[2]

Frohna is located along State Route C in southeastern Perry County, about two miles northwest of Altenburg and about 14 miles southeast of Perryville. Its exact coordinates are 37°38’26”N 89°37’09”W.

The city is located in the rolling uplands of Perry County between Apple and Brazeau Creeks. It has a total area of 0.90 square miles, and an average elevation of 587 feet.^[3]

At the 2010 census, Frohna had a total of 254 inhabitants, grouped into 102 households, with a population density of 282.2 people per square mile. This figure marked a significant increase from the 2000 census, when Frohna had a population of 192. 99.61% of the inhabitants were White, and 0.39% were Native American.

The median age in Frohna was 39.7 years, with 26.0% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 7.1% between 18 and 24 years old, 26.0% between 25 and 44, 24.0% between 45 and 64, and 16.9% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 51.6% male, 48.4% female.^[4]

According to the 2017 American Community Survey, Frohna had a median household income of $39,167, and a median family income of $42,500. The unemployment rate was 11.4%. The per capita income was $22,293. About 17.5% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 6.7% of people under the age of 18 and 8.3% of people 65 years old or older.^[5]

Grades K-8 in Frohna are served by the Altenburg School District #48 in nearby Altenburg, while high schoolers attend Perryville High School. Most students through eighth grade, however, attend United in Christ Lutheran School in Frohna, a private institution with an enrollment of about 100 students.^[6]

The main church in Frohna is Concordia Lutheran Church, whose current building was constructed in 1874 (though the congregation has existed since 1839). The Saxon Lutheran Memorial, an outdoor history museum commemorating the 19th-century migration, was established in 1962, containing a still-standing log cabin structure and other artifacts. The memorial was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.^[7]