Greenville, Missouri

Greenville is a city in central Wayne County, Missouri, of which it has been the county seat since its founding in 1819. It had a population of 511 at the 2010 census.

History

One of the first settlers in what became Wayne County was Elijah Bettis, who by the late 1810s owned a considerable amount of land along the north bank of the St. Francis River and operated a ford on the river, bearing his name. Upon the organization of Wayne County in 1818, Bettis was one of several commissioners chosen to select a site for the county seat, and to enhance the value of his land, persuaded the others to locate it near the site of his ford. The new town was said to have been laid out in a cornfield, with the streets paralleling the rows of corn.

The new settlement was immediately dubbed "Greenville." This had a double meaning: it was a reference to Fort Greenville, Ohio, where General "Mad" Anthony Wayne (the new county's namesake) had concluded a treaty with several Indian tribes after the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The fort in turn took its name from Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene, a friend of Wayne's.

Greenville flourished during the 19th century due to its position as the seat of county government. A courthouse was erected, and at various times local businesses included several hotels and banks, two newspapers representing the Democratic and Republican parties, and even an opera house. Nonetheless, it also suffered numerous setbacks. Its proximity to the river subjected it to repeated floods, notably in 1826 and 1832, and the courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1854 (as was its successor in 1892). During the first months of the Civil War, a small Confederate force was stationed near Greenville, though it retreated to Arkansas in August 1861. A railroad was extended to the town in the mid-1890s, triggering a significant economic boom as it opened up lumber-harvesting operations; this had, however, ended by the 1910s.

After another disastrous flood in the 1930s, the U.S. Corps of Engineers began construction of a dam on the St. Francis, forming Lake Wappapello. Completed in 1941, it threatened to submerge the town, which as a result was relocated in its near-entirety two miles to the north, where it now sits. The original location, now known as Old Greenville, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Geography

Greenville is located along U.S. Route 67 in central Wayne County, just east of the St. Francis River near the headwaters of Lake Wappapello. It is about 13 miles east-southeast of Piedmont, and about 24 miles north of Poplar Bluff. Its exact coordinates are 37°07’38”N 90°27’00”W.

The city lies within the southeastern foothills of the Ozark Plateau, south of the St. Francois Mountains range. It has a total land area of 0.68 square miles, and an average elevation of 407 feet.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Greenville had a total of 511 inhabitants, grouped into 192 households, with a population density of 751.5 people per square mile. This figure marked a significant increase from the 2000 census, when Greenville had a population of 451. 97.65% of the inhabitants were White, 0.20% were African-American, 0.39% were Native American, 0.20% were Asian, and 1.57% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 1.17% of the population.

The median age in Greenville was 45.9 years, with 21.7% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 7.2% between 18 and 24 years old, 20.0% between 25 and 44, 27.0% between 45 and 64, and 24.1% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 47.2% male, 52.8% female.

According to the 2017 American Community Survey, Greenville had a median household income of $39,750, and a median family income of $52,000. The unemployment rate was 7.7%. The per capita income was $18,744. About 11.5% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 10.6% of people under the age of 18 and 8.3% of people 65 years old or older.

Education

Greenville and most of central and eastern Wayne County are served by the Greenville R-II School District, a K-12 public institution with an enrollment of around 800 students. There are two elementary schools (one in Greenville, one in Williamsville), one junior high, and one high school. Its mascot is the Bears, and the school colors are red and black.