Editing Blackwater, Missouri (section)

==History==
Blackwater was [[plat]]ted in 1887, although it had long functioned as a trading point.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xcxWsmxRzVEC&pg=PA17 | title=Missouri Roadsides: The Traveler's Companion | publisher=University of Missouri Press | author=Earngey, Bill | year=1995 | pages=17–18| isbn=9780826210210 }}</ref> A post office called Blackwater has been in operation since 1873.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_cooper.html |title=Cooper County Place Names, 1928–1945 (archived) |publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri |accessdate=22 September 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624071003/http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_cooper.html |archivedate=24 June 2016 }}</ref>

In the late nineteenth century, the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]] sought to construct a "River Route" to link important sites like [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], [[Boonville, Missouri|Boonville]], and [[Jefferson City, Missouri|Jefferson City]]. A number of smaller towns and villages sprang up among the route, which provided a vital economic lifeline to otherwise isolated areas.

As one of these smaller towns, Blackwater retained a small but economically stable population. First consisting of railroad workers, the discovery of a [[Quarry|rock quarry]] several miles outside the town provided a new set of economic opportunities, drawing miners to the area. In subsequent decades, the town would develop drugstores, banks, hardware stores, millinery shops, cafes, a hotel, lumber yard, livery stables, a creamery, meat market, blacksmiths, and saloons.<ref name="History"/>

At the coming of the [[World War II|Second World War]], Blackwater had a population of about 650 people, but the economic and social changes of the [[Post-war|postwar era]] presented a new series of challenges. The [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]], which declared bankruptcy during the [[Great Depression]], did not provide the same labor opportunities it had previously. As for many other small towns, Blackwater found itself losing its young people to larger metropolitan areas with available jobs, and the population dwindled.

In 1950 the Blackwater Stone Company, the town's largest employer, accidentally hit water while detonating within the quarry, which flooded. This incident forced the permanent closure of the mines, dealing the town another heavy blow.<ref name="History"/>

By the twenty-first century, Blackwater's population and economy had significantly shrunk from their former peaks. To boost the town's fortunes, a group of residents formed the Blackwater Preservation Society and began applying to grants to restore or repurpose the town's historic buildings. These activities have attracted some tourism to the area, particularly among rail or local history enthusiasts, and support a small number of local businesses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BLACKWATER |url=https://www.centralmoloop.com/blackwater |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=Central MO Loop |language=en}}</ref>

The video games ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' (2010) and ''[[Red Dead Redemption 2]]'' (2018) include a version of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Charlie |date=2021-08-17 |title=Red Dead Redemption 2 Locations and Their Real-World Counterparts |url=https://gamerant.com/red-dead-redemption-2-locations-real-world-counterparts-tumbleweed-blackwater-saint-denis/ |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=Game Rant |language=en}}</ref>

[[Blackwater Commercial Historic District]], [[Blackwater Residential Historic District]], and [[Imhoff Archeological Site]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>