Morehouse, Missouri

Morehouse is a city in extreme northern New Madrid County, Missouri. The population was 973 at the 2010 census.

History

Settlement in the Morehouse area began as early as the 1840s, with the construction of a sawmill camp in the swampy lowlands west of present-day Sikeston. The community that developed was first known as "Little River," for the stream that flowed just to the west; however, when a post office was established in 1893, it was re-named in honor of Albert P. Morehouse, governor of Missouri from 1887 to 1889. By the early 20th century, Morehouse had a population of 1,700 and a newspaper, the Morehouse Sun, though it has declined somewhat in recent decades.

In May 1946, the biological father of future President Bill Clinton, William Jefferson Blythe Jr., was killed in a car accident on U.S. Route 60 between Morehouse and Sikeston, three months before Clinton's birth. Blythe was a traveling salesman returning to his family from a business trip to Chicago.

Geography

Morehouse is located in the northwestern corner of New Madrid County, near the border with Scott and Stoddard Counties. It lies about six miles west-southwest of Sikeston, with U.S. Route 60 running along the southern edge of the town and Missouri State Highway 114 crossing through its center. Its exact coordinates are 36°50’44”N 89°41’28”W.

The city has a total land area of 0.79 square miles, and an average elevation of 302 feet. It is sandwiched between the Little River to the west and the slightly elevated Sikeston Ridge to the east.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Morehouse had a total of 973 inhabitants, grouped into 426 households, with a population density of 1,231.6 people per square mile. This figure represented a decrease from the 2000 census, when Morehouse had a population of 1,015. 95.89% of the inhabitants were White, 0.82% were African-American, 0.31% were Native American, 0.10% were Asian, 1.03% were from some other race, and 1.85% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 1.95% of the population.

The median age in Morehouse was 42.9 years, with 21.5% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 6.6% between 18 and 24 years old, 24.9% between 25 and 44, 30.1% between 45 and 64, and 16.8% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 48.6% male, 51.4% female.

According to the 2010 American Community Survey, the median household income in Morehouse was $23,750, and the median family income was $35,208. The unemployment rate was 2.3%. The per capita income was $15,396. About 23.1% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 25.1% of people under the age of 18 and 26.9% of people 65 years old or older.

Education

Morehouse at one time had its own public school district, with some of its buildings constructed by the WPA during the New Deal. Declining enrollment after the 1950s led to its dissolution, however, and today, unlike most of northern New Madrid County, the area is part of the Sikeston R-VI School District. An elementary school was maintained in Morehouse for some time, but this was closed in 2011.