Editing Aurora, Missouri (section)

==History==
The Honey Creek area, near Aurora, was originally settled by pioneers from [[Tennessee]], including James D. Hillhouse, E. B. Hillhouse, Reverend A. A. Young, James Barrow and James Gibson. They were later instrumental in founding Aurora.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-02-08|title=Early History of Aurora|url=https://auroramohistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/early-history-of-aurora/|access-date=2021-10-28|website=Aurora Missouri Historical Society|language=en}}</ref> Their descendants include actor [[Brad Pitt]] and novelist and national security analyst [[Raelynn Hillhouse]].

Aurora was [[plat]]ted in 1870 by Stephen G. Elliott.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_lawrence.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624071704/http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_lawrence.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=24 June 2016 | title=Lawrence County Place Names, 1928–1945 (archived)| publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri| access-date=25 October 2016}}</ref> It was reportedly named after [[Aurora (mythology)|Aurora]], the Roman goddess of dawn.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ | title=How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri | author=Eaton, David Wolfe | year=1916 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ/page/n81 184]}}</ref>

[[Galena]] ore was discovered in 1885 while digging a well on the farm of Thomas D. Liles in November, marking the beginning of Aurora as a mining town.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Historic Map - Aurora, MO - 1891|url=https://www.worldmapsonline.com/historic-map-aurora-mo-1891/|access-date=2021-10-28|website=World Maps Online|language=en}}</ref>  Mining of surface outcrops began in 1886.<ref name="mining">{{Cite book|last=Holibaugh|first=John R.|url=https://archive.org/details/leadandzincmini00holigoog|title=The lead and zinc mining industry of southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas;|date=1895|publisher=New York and London, The Scientific publishing co.|others=University of California}}</ref> Large scale commercial mining began shortly afterwards as the mines grew deeper and [[zinc]] and galena were discovered. The zinc from the Aurora mines was of exceptional purity and high grade. By 1893, 12,651 tons of zinc ore were mined and shipped from Aurora.<ref name="mining" />  The mines attracted prospectors and miners. Aurora's population peaked at 10,000 ''circa'' 1900.

The Frisco Railroad (now [[BNSF Railway|Burlington Northern-Santa Fe]]) and the Missouri Pacific (now [[Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad]]) previously had depots in Aurora. The train master for the Missouri Pacific Railroad's White River division was headquartered in Aurora until the mid-1950s.

From 1911 to 1920, the virulently anti-Catholic newspaper [[The Menace (newspaper)|''The Menace'']] was published in Aurora by W. F. Phelps and Earl McClure. In 1914, it achieved a national circulation of over one million, according to the March 1932 issue of ''[[American Mercury]]''.

The [[Lewis Shaw Coleman House]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2016.<ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20161028.htm|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=2016-10-28|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 10/17/16 through 10/21/16|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>