Gideon, Missouri

Gideon is a city in southwestern New Madrid County, Missouri. It had a population of 1,093 at the 2010 census.

History

The Gideon area was uninhabited forest until about 1900, when the Gideon Anderson Lumber Company of Indiana established a sawmill alongside the newly-arrived railroad. One of the early settlers was Mr. Frank Gideon, part-owner of the company, in whose honor the new town was named. A post office was added in 1903, and Gideon was incorporated as a village in 1906. Within a few years the community had several mills and factories, a school, and two churches, and the population rose quickly as the fertile land nearby was cleared for farming.

Gideon's most notable industry was the Gideon Box Plant, which operated from 1931 to 1986 and employed as many as 250 people at one time. During its operation, it produced more beverage cases than any other American factory, and during World War II, it was the country's only factory to produce tent pins for soldiers overseas.

Geography

Gideon is located along Missouri State Highways 153 and 162 in far western New Madrid County, close to the border with Dunklin County. It lies about seven miles southeast of Malden, and twelve miles west of Portageville. Its exact coordinates are 36°27’17”N 89°55’07”W.

The city lies on the flat Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It has a total area of 1.80 square miles, and an average elevation of 269 feet.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Gideon had a total of 1,093 inhabitants, grouped into 418 households, with a population density of 610.6 people per square mile. This figure represented a slight decrease from the 2000 census, when Gideon had a population of 1,113. 99.36% of the inhabitants were White, 0.09% were African-American, and 0.55% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 0.27% of the population.

The median age in Gideon was 39.1 years, with 25.6% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 7.6% between 18 and 24 years old, 23.1% between 25 and 44, 24.2% between 45 and 64, and 19.4% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 47.8% male, 52.2% female.

According to the 2017 American Community Survey, the median household income in Gideon was $32,446, and the median family income was $34,167. The unemployment rate was 8.7%. The per capita income was $14,531. About 27.4% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 32.6% of people under the age of 18 and 19.2% of people 65 years old or older.

Education

Gideon's first school was organized in 1903. Today it and the surrounding area, including the nearby community of Tallapoosa, are served by the Gideon School District #37, a K-12 public institution with an enrollment of about 260 students. Its mascot is the Bulldogs, and the school colors are black, gold, and white. The school touts its commitment to maintaining in its students "that heritage of democracy that has been left to them by their ancestors."

Notable Persons

Gideon is the hometown of Mark Littell, a professional baseball player who pitched for the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1970s and 1980s. He later wrote a memoir of his childhood and career, On the Eighth Day, God Made Baseball.

The city was also home to Jack Campbell (1927-2007), a singer and songwriter whose band, "Jack Campbell and the Ambassadors," recorded a number of gospel hits.