Editing Salisbury, Missouri (section)

==History==
[[File:JudgeSalisbury.JPG|thumb|upright|Judge Lucius Salisbury, town founder]]
The land where Salisbury is now located was first owned by Prier Bibo, a veteran of the [[War of 1812]]. In 1819, a tract of 360 acres was granted to Bibo by the U.S. government as a bonus for his military service.<ref name="Library">{{Cite web|url=https://thelibrary.org/lochist/moser/charitonpl.html|title=A Directory of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets of Missouri|website=thelibrary.org}}</ref> Following two intermediate owners, the land was sold for $400 to Judge Lucius Salisbury in 1856. He had surveyors lay out the town plat in 1857, and the town was founded on April 1, 1867.

Salisbury has had a post office since 1863, when Judge Salisbury opened it in his home. He also ran the stagecoach stop from his business, known as "Stop-A-While."<ref name="Historical">''Historical, Pictorial, & Biographical Record of Chariton County, Missouri'', Pictorial and Biographical Publishing Co., Salisbury Missouri, 1896</ref>

By the 1870 U.S. Census, Salisbury's population was 626. Just two years later, the town was struck by a large tornado. Major fires damaged much of the business district in 1877 and again in 1882. On April 4, 1882, Salisbury was organized and chartered as a fourth-class city under Missouri laws.<ref name="Historical"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://salisburymo.net/pumpkinsteakfest2012/steakfestival2012.html|title=Town history|publisher=City of Salisbury website|access-date=7 June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224071040/http://salisburymo.net/pumpkinsteakfest2012/steakfestival2012.html|archive-date=24 February 2013}}</ref>

Early businesses included two hotels, a flour mill, three tobacco factories, three manufacturers of agricultural equipment and some forty other assorted merchants in the latter 19th century.<ref name="Library"/> Residents could visit the Salisbury Opera House,<ref name="Historical"/> where the town's location on the Wabash rail line came into play, conveniently bringing in notable performers of the time. A published 1896 history of Chariton County lists among the community's businesses and amenities two newspapers, six physicians, a soda-pop factory, cigar factory, and a city-owned power plant for electricity.<ref name="Historical"/>

The [[Salisbury Square Historic District]] and [[Frabrishous and Sarah A. Thomas House]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>