Capitol Calling

As I alluded to last week, Missouri has some very small counties in the more rural parts of the state. Worth County, for instance, has only 2,151 people. By contrast, my high school alma matter - A.E. Stevenson High School - has 4,461 students.

MissouriNet’s Bob Priddy broaches the subject of whether some of the smaller counties in the state should be merged. From his blog post:

It’s not a new question. It’s been asked after other decennial counts and sometimes in between. It is a delicate question, though, because it goes to a person’s sense of place and the sense of place is extremely important to all of us.

There used to be a little town called Cedar City at the foot of the Missouri River bridge that linked Jefferson City with Callaway County. The town dated from 1870 and was a place for homes, churches, and a school. It was never very big. It was flooded several times but the people always came back. Many years ago Jefferson City tried to buy out the town, move residents north to the location of a planned new highway interchange, and turn the townsite into an industrial development project. The townsfolks in Cedar City flat-out rejected the overture. This was their town. This was where generations of their families had lived. It might be a pretty poor town but it was THEIR town. It was their home. Then came 1993 and the flood that killed Cedar City. Most of what used to be the town is now a Jefferson City Park.

Read more of Priddy’s fascinating post here.