Editing Kennett, Missouri (section)

==History==
Settlers built log cabins in the area in the first half of the 19th century, naming their settlement Chilletecaux in honor of a [[Lenape|Delaware Indian]] chief who lived there. The town was renamed Butler in the late 1840s. Due to mail delivery problems because of other jurisdictions named the same, the settlement was renamed Kennett, in honor of the mayor of the city of [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Luther Martin Kennett|Luther M. Kennett]].<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/n62 165]}}</ref>

In the 1890s, a railroad reached the area, stimulating growth in the town. In that same period, the state began construction of a massive drainage program in the [[St. Francis River]] basin, which was floodplain and wetlands.  In the 20th century, after timber clearing, the area was developed for cultivation of cotton and other commodity crops.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kennettmo.com/history.htm |title=Kennett Missouri Chamber of Commerce |access-date=November 5, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228205138/http://www.kennettmo.com/history.htm |archive-date=February 28, 2009  }}</ref>

On [[List of tornadoes in the outbreak of March 13–17, 2025#March 15 event|March 15, 2025]], an EF2 tornado hit the city at EF1 strength, damaging several homes, businesses, a motel, and wooden power poles and snapping trees.<ref name="DAT">{{cite web |author1=Various [[National Weather Service]] offices |date=2025 |title=Damage Assessment Toolkit |url=https://apps.dat.noaa.gov/stormdamage/damageviewer/ |website=DAT |publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] |format=Interactive map and database}}</ref>