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Murphy Settlement quickly became one of the more prominent frontier outposts, dominated from the start by the numerous Murphy clan. William Murphy's widow, Sarah, was said to have led the first [[Protestant]] Sunday school west of the [[Mississippi River]], and to have been active in the building of a log church at an early date; her sons, meanwhile, were widely known as large landowners and mainstays of local business and peacekeeping. Under their leadership, the community and the surrounding area steadily grew in population, and in late 1821 it was organized as St. Francois County. The need for selecting a county seat at once was apparent, and Murphy Settlement was a strong candidate, due to its relatively central location and its being in less mountainous terrain. One of William and Sarah Murphy's sons, David, donated 52 acres of land for the construction of a courthouse and other offices, and in 1822 the new county seat was surveyed and laid out. Initially it was dubbed St. Francois Court House, but by 1825 it had been renamed Farmington, presumably on account of the rich farmland nearby.<ref>https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C2366/st-francois-county</ref>
Murphy Settlement quickly became one of the more prominent frontier outposts, dominated from the start by the numerous Murphy clan. William Murphy's widow, Sarah, was said to have led the first [[Protestant]] Sunday school west of the [[Mississippi River]], and to have been active in the building of a log church at an early date; her sons, meanwhile, were widely known as large landowners and mainstays of local business and peacekeeping. Under their leadership, the community and the surrounding area steadily grew in population, and in late 1821 it was organized as St. Francois County. The need for selecting a county seat at once was apparent, and Murphy Settlement was a strong candidate, due to its relatively central location and its being in less mountainous terrain. One of William and Sarah Murphy's sons, David, donated 52 acres of land for the construction of a courthouse and other offices, and in 1822 the new county seat was surveyed and laid out. Initially it was dubbed St. Francois Court House, but by 1825 it had been renamed Farmington, presumably on account of the rich farmland nearby.<ref>https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C2366/st-francois-county</ref>
During the next few decades, the town grew slowly in population, numbering only about 500 residents on the eve of the [[Civil War]]; nonetheless, it was an important regional center, serving as a market for local farmers and as a transport link between the nearby lead and iron ore mines and [[Ste. Genevieve, Missouri|Ste. Genevieve]] and other river ports to the east. It suffered a serious setback in the late 1850s, when the new St. Louis and Iron Mountain railroad opted to bypass Farmington to the west, after local leaders refused to buy into its stock. This, combined with the depredations of the Civil War shortly afterward, raised fears that business and county government would be moved to the new town of DeLassus (which was along the rail line), and Farmington would sink into obscurity. A proposal to move the county seat to DeLassus was defeated in the late 1870s, however, and thereafter Farmington flourished, thanks in large part to the increasingly-important lead-mining business. Having been incorporated as a village in 1856, it was elevated in 1878 to a fourth-class city, and by 1910 had a population of some 2,600 and could boast of three banks, twelve general stores, three newspapers, and many other businesses. It had also emerged as a center for education and public institutions--two private colleges, Carleton College and Elmwood Seminary, operated in the city, as did a branch of the Missouri State Hospital.<ref>Douglass, p. 278-80.</ref>
Farmington's diversification enabled it to endure the decline of the lead-mining business in the mid-20th century without much trouble. It passed the 10,000 mark in population in the 1980s, and has continued to expand in recent years, being the recognized economic hub for the Lead Belt region. In the next few years, it may well surpass Poplar Bluff and Sikeston to become the second-largest city in Southeast Missouri.
==References==
==References==