Editing La Plata, Missouri (section)

==History==
The beginnings of La Plata can be traced back to March 17, 1827, when Drury Davis established a [[trading post]] near the town's current location.<ref name=Bulldog>{{cite web|url=http://www.cityoflaplata.net/History/history.html|title=History of La Plata|publisher=City of La Plata official website|year=2014|access-date=13 April 2014}}</ref> The ensuing few years saw Davis  joined by family and friends to create a small village that included a [[blacksmith]] shop, an inn, and stagecoach station.<ref name=Bulldog/>  
 
La Plata was [[plat]]ted in 1855. It was named after the city of [[La Plata]], in [[Argentina]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbyjamQWtScC&pg=PA28 | title=Our Storehouse of Missouri Place Names | publisher=University of Missouri Press | author=Ramsay, Robert L. | year=1952 | pages=28| isbn=9780826205865 }}</ref> The name is of Spanish origin meaning "silver".<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfAuAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA192 | title=How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri | author=Eaton, David Wolfe | year=1916 | pages=192}}</ref> Two men, Louis Gex and Thomas Saunders, were the primary force behind the town's platting, and drew straws to choose the community's name.<ref name=MCHS>{{cite web|url=http://www.maconcountyhistoricalsociety.com/uploads/1/4/7/9/14799342/macon_co._place_names.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414123603/http://www.maconcountyhistoricalsociety.com/uploads/1/4/7/9/14799342/macon_co._place_names.pdf |archive-date=2014-04-14 |url-status=live|title=Macon County place names|publisher=Macon County Historical Society|year=2014|access-date=13 April 2014}}</ref> Saunders wanted to name the town "Charlottesville" to honor a favorite sister, while Gex pushed for the name La Plata. Gex won out, and the town is believed to have been first incorporated on September 29, 1856.<ref name=MCHS/> Another of the early settlers who helped in creating the town was W. W. Moore, who erected La Plata's first hotel.<ref name=Directory>{{cite web|url=http://thelibrary.org/lochist/moser/maconpl.html|title=A Directory of Towns, Villages and Hamlets of Macon County Missouri|publisher=Macon County Historical Society|year=2014|access-date=13 April 2014}}</ref>

The North Missouri (later known as the [[Wabash Railroad]]) came to town in 1867, and the [[Santa Fe Railroad]] twenty years later, passing through La Plata on its route from [[Chicago]] to [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]].<ref name=Bulldog/> The combination of the two railroads made La Plata an ideal shipping point for timber, livestock, grains, and other goods for northern Macon County and southern portions of neighboring [[Adair County, Missouri|Adair County]] as well.<ref name=MCHS2>{{cite web|url=http://genealogytrails.com/mo/macon/county-history.html|title=Macon County History|publisher=Genealogy Trails via Macon County Historical Society|year=2014|access-date=13 April 2014}}</ref> As part of this growth, the town was incorporated as a fourth-class city on April 4, 1881, with Jacob Gilstrap serving as first mayor.<ref name=Directory/> La Plata's first major industry, a [[creamery]], was established in 1883. The facility had the capacity to produce up to 1.25 tons of butter per day.<ref name=Bulldog/> However, fire destroyed the creamery and it was never rebuilt. Other light agriculture-related industry has existed in the town over the years, including a large chicken hatchery and turkey hatchery. Two major oil pipelines pass through La Plata as well, the Prairie Pipeline being the first in 1912.<ref name=Bulldog/> A "tank farm" of large storage tanks was located for many years on the city's northern edge. The Wabash Railroad through La Plata was abandoned after it was merged in 1991 with the [[Norfolk and Western Railway]], but the Amtrak station is still in operation on the [[Burlington Northern Santa Fe]] rail system, and the town is served by the ''[[Southwest Chief]]''. A small but active business community still exists in the town.

The first school, named "Long Branch" for a nearby creek, was established in 1868. It was replaced, in 1872, by a five-room brick schoolhouse.<ref name=Bulldog/> Today, children of La Plata and the surrounding rural area are educated by the La Plata R-2 school district.

The [[Lester and Norma Dent House]], [[John T. and Mary M. Doneghy House]], [[Gilbreath-McLorn House]], and [[La Plata Square Historic District]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>