Editing Keytesville, Missouri (section)

==History==
[[File:CharitonCoCourthouse.JPG|thumb|Chariton County's second courthouse. It replaced one destroyed by Confederate raiders during the Civil War.]]
The town is named for James Keyte, an [[English people|Englishman]] and [[Methodist]] preacher<ref>{{cite news|title=Disappearing Missouri Names |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/861825/missouri_toponyms/|newspaper=The Kansas City Star|date=March 19, 1911|page=15|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = August 15, 2014 }} {{Open access}}</ref> who purchased a large parcel of land in 1830 and, two years later, donated fifty acres of it to Chariton County to establish a seat of county government.<ref name="Historical">''Historical, Pictorial, & Biographical Record of Chariton County, Missouri'', Pictorial and Biographical Publishing Co., Salisbury Missouri, 1896</ref> Until then, county business had been conducted from "Old Chariton," a village near the confluence of the [[Chariton River|Chariton]] and [[Missouri River|Missouri]] Rivers that was plagued by disease-spreading mosquitoes and subject to repeated flooding.<ref name="Chamber">{{cite web|url=http://www.keytesvillechamber.com/History.php |title=History of the city of Keytesville |publisher=Keytesville Area Chamber of Commerce |year=2011 |access-date=5 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613224316/http://www.keytesvillechamber.com/History.php |archive-date=13 June 2012 }}</ref>

James Keyte constructed the first home in Keytesville, and the first business as well. Both were log structures, with the second doubling as a post office. Keyte also created the town's first industry when he constructed a mill near his home on Mussel Fork Creek.<ref name="Historical" />

The first courthouse was constructed in Keytesville between 1833 and 1834. As a two-story, four-room brick building, it survived until September 20, 1864, when it was burned down by [[Confederate States Army|Confederate raiders]] during the [[American Civil War]].<ref name="Chamber" />

Isaac Redding added Keytesville's first hotel in August 1842.

Keytesville was incorporated on February 3, 1868, by the state of Missouri, and incorporated as a Missouri 4th-class city in March 1883.<ref name="Historical" />

===Confederate raid===
On September 20, 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price arrived on the outskirts of Keytesville with a force of 250 men, among them [[George M. Todd|George Todd]] and other members of [[William Quantrill|Quantrill's Raiders]]<ref>Castel, Albert E. with TH Goodrich, ''Bloody Bill Anderson: The Short Savage Life of a Civil War Guerrilla'', Stackpole Books, 1998. pg. 60.</ref> under the command of Major John Thrailkill. This action was part of Price's [[Price's Raid|1864 campaign]] that extended across the state from eastern Missouri to the Kansas City area. When Thrailkill's force arrived, Keytesville was defended by a small Union detachment of 35 men from the Missouri militia, commanded by Lieutenant Anthony Pleyer.<ref name="War">''The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the official records of the Union Army.'', Written and published by the United States War Department. pp. 427-430</ref> Many local residents were sympathetic to the Confederate cause. Early on the morning of September 20, under a flag of truce, Thrailkill demanded the surrender of the Union troops, promising fair treatment. Unable to persuade his men to fight, Pleyer surrendered. Price paroled the Union garrison, and six men promptly joined his force.<ref>''FROM NORTHWEST MISSOURI.; Another Chapter of Pawpawism A Dark and Bloody Record Radical Union Men Warned to Leave the Country-They Vote at tho Peril of their Lives Murder and Arson in Chariton County.'' ''Missouri Democrat''. October 2, 1864</ref> Confederate forces then briefly occupied the town, commandeering supplies from various merchants, burning down the courthouse, and executing Chariton County sheriff Robert Carmon and William Young, a Union scout and alleged spy.<ref>Lause, Mark A., ''Prices Lost Campaign: The 1864 Invasion of Missouri'', University of Missouri Press, 2011, pg. 60.</ref>

===Late 19th century===
In February 1866, a contract was awarded for construction of a replacement courthouse, a two-story brick building with cupola. Built at a cost of $40,000, it would serve the county until it was destroyed by fire on August 27, 1973.<ref name="Courthouse">{{cite web|url=http://extension.missouri.edu/p/UED6020|title=Chariton County Courthouse profile|publisher=University of Missouri Extension|year=2011|access-date=5 August 2012}}</ref> By the mid-1890s, Keytesville had an estimated population of about 1,100 citizens and two newspapers, the ''Chariton Courier'' and ''Keytesville Signal''. Businesses included the Keytesville Roller Mill, a large water-powered grist mill on Mussel Fork Creek; two banks; a building and loan association; two hotels; a distillery; general mercantiles; and restaurants.<ref name="Historical"/><ref name="Chamber"/> Because of the town's location {{convert|1.5|mi|abbr=on}} north of the [[Wabash Railroad]] line, Keytesville merchants encouraged the construction, in 1889, of a streetcar line. Hugo Bartz and J. J. Moore, secured land and financing for the project, which when completed consisted of two miles of track and a large barn for horses and rolling stock, constructed for a cost of $10,000.<ref name="Historical"/> Two horse-drawn passenger coaches and a large flatcar for freight delivered new arrivals at the Wabash depot to the town.

===Keytesville today===
The town has a business district, a [[public library]], and [[chamber of commerce]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.publiclibraries.com/missouri.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610012728/http://www.publiclibraries.com/missouri.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=10 June 2017 | title=Missouri Public Libraries | publisher=PublicLibraries.com | access-date=2 June 2019}}</ref> swimming pool, insurance sales, bank, convenience store, law offices, chiropractor, restaurant, auto repair, agricultural services and medical clinic.<ref name="Chamber"/> The town has various service clubs and organizations, including the [[Lions Club International|Lions Club]]. There are three sites in Keytesville listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]: the [[First Presbyterian Church (Keytesville, Missouri)|First Presbyterian Church]], the [[Chariton County Jail and Sheriff's Residence]], and the [[Redding-Hill House]]. [[Price Park]] has a statue of [[Sterling Price]] sculpted by [[Allen George Newman]]. A new Chariton County Courthouse was constructed in Keytesville in the summer of 1974 and occupied the following July.<ref name="Courthouse"/>