Qulin, Missouri

Qulin is a city in southeastern Butler County, Missouri, near the St. Francis River. It had a population of 458 at the 2010 census.

History

Qulin developed on the site of an earlier community known as Melville, which came into existence in the late 19th century thanks to the local railroad and timber industries. Its name was changed around 1904, after an application for the post office to bear the Melville name had been rejected. The origins of the name "Qulin" are unclear, although the most plausible theory put forth is that it came from Alfred Kelly, an early settler and first keeper of the post office, in honor of two of his daughter, Quincy and Laura. Whatever the case, the name change was definitely official by 1910. A high school was established at Qulin in 1929, and it retained its own district until it and several other schools were consolidated into the Twin Rivers R-X School District in 1969.

A 2019 Reader's Digest article named Qulin ("KEW-lin") as the most difficult town to pronounce in the state of Missouri.

Geography

Qulin is located along Missouri State Highway 53 in southeastern Butler County, about thirteen miles southeast of Poplar Bluff and six miles north of the Arkansas state line. Its exact coordinates are 36°35’48”N 90°14’57”W.

The city lies on the flat Mississippi Alluvial Plain, between the Black and St. Francis Rivers; there are few notable terrain features, apart from a low sandy ridge known locally as "Qulin Ridge." It has a total area of 0.45 square miles, and an average elevation of 315 feet.