Editing Lithium, Missouri (section)

==History==
Lithium was first surveyed as a town in 1882.  The first settlers were Dr. Henry Clay Fish, Richard P. Dobbs and James G. Christian, who all came to Missouri from [[Illinois]]. The town was incorporated in 1883 and the first mayor was Richard C. Lisenby. The location of the town was determined by two mineral springs, which were highly prized on account of their medicinal qualities, which led to the construction of a bath house by Thomas King in 1883. A Baptist church, [[Lithium Baptist Church (Lithium, Missouri)|Lithium Baptist]], was organized in 1885 and a Catholic church, [[St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church (Lithium, Missouri)|St. John the Evangelist]], was organized in 1896. By 1912 the town had two general stores, two mills, a brick yard and population of 98.<ref name ="GR5">History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests https://archive.org/stream/historyofsouthea01doug/historyofsouthea01doug_djvu.txt</ref>