Editing Monett, Missouri (section)

==History==
Southwest Missouri, including the area of what is now Monett, was inhabited by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] of the [[Osage Nation]] until their forced removal to [[Indian Territory]].

===Settlement: 1870-1900===
[[File:Dechenne Aeroplane.jpg|thumb|Logan McKee flying the DeChenne Aeroplane in Monett, Missouri]]
Monett was created as a [[Railway town|railroad town]] by the [[St. Louis–San Francisco Railway]] ("Frisco Line"), which was extended into the area in 1870, and a branch line going to [[Paris, Texas]], was built. Both lines are still in existence and operated by the [[BNSF Railway]]. During this time the area went through several names including Kings Prairie Depot, Plymouth, Plymouth Junction (when the southern branch was built in 1880), Gonten (named for the local [[postmaster]] because the Post Service said there were other Plymouths); and finally, Monett in 1887 when the area was formally platted and the Monett name was applied to the post office.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cappscreek/monettnames.html | title=Monett, Missouri History, A Town with Five Names}}</ref>  It was named for Henry Monett who was a popular general station agent for various railroads including the [[New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad]] ("Nickel Plate Railroad") before becoming an agent for the [[New York Central Railroad]] shortly before his death at the age of 35 in 1888.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7518073/charles_monett_obituary_oct_10_1888/ | title=Charles Monett Obituary Oct 10, 1888| newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_barry.html| title=Barry County Place Names, 1928-1945 (archived)| publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri| access-date=30 August 2016| url-status=bot: unknown| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624071806/http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_barry.html| archive-date=24 June 2016}}</ref><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/n17 206]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?state=MO | title=Post Offices| publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=30 August 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Monett MO Presby PHS1028.jpg|thumb|upright|The Presbyterian Church in Monett, Missouri]]

The community was very much noted for being a rail town and had a [[Fred Harvey Company|Harvey House]] operating at the Frisco train station from 1896 until 1930.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.harveyhouses.net/states/missouri/mohouses.html | title=Missouri Harvey Houses}}</ref>  The community in the [[Ozark Mountains]] also had a thriving fruit business and was nicknamed the "Strawberry Capital of the Midwest."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.monett-mo.com/history.html|title=Monett Chamber of Commerce|website=www.monett-mo.com}}</ref>  The Ozark Fruit Growers Association building, which was built in 1927, is part of the Downtown Monett Historic District and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
[[File:Mural in Monett, MO.jpg|right|thumb|200px|{{center|WPA mural, ''Products of Missouri'' by James McCreery, in Monett post office}}]]

The [[David W. Courdin House]], [[Downtown Monett Historic District]], and [[Waldensian Church and Cemetery of Stone Prairie]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref><ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20140703.htm|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=2014-07-03|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 6/16/14 through 6/27/14|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

In 1894, a [[Lynching in the United States|lynching]] and [[race riot]] took place in Monett before the violence spread to [[Pierce City, Missouri|Pierce City]] and other southwestern Missouri towns. Monett became a [[sundown town]], banning African Americans from living or staying there after dark, with a sign across the main street saying: "Nigger, don't let the sun go down."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Southwest Missouri Riots (1894–1906)|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of American Race Riots|volume=2|editor1-first=Walter|editor1-last=Rucker|editor2-first=James Nathaniel|editor2-last=Upton|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Connecticut|pages=603–607|isbn=978-0-313-33302-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-mKwbU0XlEC&pg=PA603|via=Google Books|year=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Negroes Killed or Driven Away|work=[[Chicago Tribune|Chicago Daily Tribune]]|location=Chicago|date=August 21, 1901|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29386672/|via=Newspapers.com|quote=Most of the refugees are making through the woods to [[Joplin, Missouri|Joplin]], as Monett, the nearest town, has for years refused to permit a negro to reside there. Across the main street of Monett for years there has been a sign reading: 'Nigger, don't let the sun go down,' and no negro has been permitted to remain inside the corporation after dark.}}</ref> A newspaper in another Missouri town reported in 1906 that "[[Monett]], [[Peirce City, Missouri|Pierce City]], [[Rogers, Arkansas|Rogers, Ark.]], and several other towns around here have driven the negros out."<ref>{{cite news
|title=Negroes Lynched
|newspaper=[[Sedalia Democrat|Sedalia Weekly Democrat]] ([[Sedalia, Missouri]])
|date=April 20, 1906
|via=newspapers.com
|page=9
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33765278/negros_lynched_in_springfield_missouri/}}</ref> When Pierce City drove out its African American population in an act of [[ethnic cleansing]], the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' said the town had been "Monettized".<ref name="PBS">{{cite web |title=Pierce City, Missouri |url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/banished/pierce.html |website=Banished: American Ethnic Cleansings |publisher=PBS.org |access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref>

===20th century===
From about 1908 through 1911, Monett investors led by L. B. Durnil and U. S. Barnsley sought to build an airplane. Their most successful attempt was the DeChenne airplane. The DeChenne airplane gave its first public demonstration flight in Monett on July 4, 1911, flown by Monett pharmacist Logan McKee.  It then made an exhibition tour in Oklahoma and Texas.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/local_news/bill-caldwell-logan-mckee-ed-dechenne-pioneered-aviation-in-southwest-missouri/article_9c6f51f9-14d9-5a03-8f4b-ba74f378e834.html | title=Bill Caldwell: Logan McKee, Ed DeChenne pioneered aviation in Southwest Missouri}}</ref>

The population had reached 4,177 by 1910,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://population.us/mo/monett/ | title=Monett, MO population}}</ref> due in large part to the railroad and its roundhouse. By 1937, a promotional pamphlet reported one out of eight people in Monett worked for the railroad.<ref name="Times Bishoff">{{cite news|title=Monett Historic Preservation District gets final approval|first=Murray|last=Bishoff|work=[[Monett Times]]|date=November 18, 2014|url=https://www.monett-times.com/story/2139001.html}}</ref>

In a postwar industrialization effort, the Monett Industrial Development Corporation brought light industry to the town, further diversifying the local and broader economy.<ref name="Times Bishoff" /> This diversification nearly doubled the population during the century, to 7,396 by 2000.

===21st century===
Through a combination of private investment and public resources, numerous restoration and revitalization projects have been undertaken in the historic downtown to restore its architectural quality, upgrade the infrastructure, drive local business success, and improve the quality of life.

In 2018, Missouri Governor [[Eric Greitens]] and Senator [[Roy Blunt]] announced an "Opportunity Zone" in Monett, allocating state and federal tax incentives for businesses that invest in the areas designated.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://ded.mo.gov/content/opportunity-zones | title=Opportunity Zones &#124; Department of Economic Development}}</ref> In 2018, Monett adopted the [[complete streets]] policy, the 39th city in Missouri to do so.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://mobikefed.org/2018/03/monett-becomes-39th-missouri-community-complete-streets-policy | title=Monett becomes 39th Missouri community with a Complete Streets policy}}</ref>