Butler, Missouri This article is about the town/city in Bates County, in Missouri.

Butler, Missouri Location inside Bates County and Missouri Location inside Bates County and Missouri County Bates Butler is a town/city in Bates County, Missouri, United States. The populace was 4,219 at the 2010 census.

The governmental center of county of Bates County, the town/city is titled for William Orlando Butler, a noted American military and political figure of the early and mid-19th century. It is positioned approximately fifty miles south of Kansas City, Missouri on U.S.

Kennett being recognized as the first settler to build a home. The plat for Butler was filed in August, 1853 and consisted of five lots on fifty-five acres of donated land. The first governmental center of county for Bates County was Papinville.

After a large portion of the county was split off to form Vernon County in 1855, Papinville was no longer near the geographic center, and Butler was chose in 1856 as the county seat. County officials shortly after that chose the contracting firm of Fitzpatrick & Hurt to construct a fifty-by-fifty foot brick courthouse at a cost of $5,000.

This building served the county until being gutted by fire in 1861. The year 1856 also saw the establishment of Butler's first general mercantile store was established in 1856, with a several the rest following in the years before to the Civil War's outbreak in 1861.

During the Civil War Missouri was engulfed in insurgent Confederate actions and raids by Union forces.

Early in the conflict a primary fire finished not only the Bates County courthouse but nearly all of the encircling square of businesses and the town's first church. The arson fire was the handiwork of a squad of volunteer Kansas cavalry acting on orders of Jayhawker Colonel James Montgomery.

Two months later a Civil War milestone took place in Bates County at a site approximately eight miles southwest of Butler.

During the Battle of Island Mound (aka "Battle of Fort Toothman") on October 28 29, 1862, the Union 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers composed of former slaves who had escaped from Arkansas and Missouri and a scouting element from the 5th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry engaged a numerically superior force of Confederate guerrillas and recent Missouri State Guard recruits led by Vard Cockrell and Bill Truman (a relative of future President Harry S.

The Union forces crossed into Missouri on a mission to clear Confederate guerrillas from an region known as "Hog Island". The Union troops commandeered and fortified the homestead of Confederate guerrilla Enoch John Toothman.

11 called for the forced evacuation of the non-urban residents of Bates and three other border counties (Cass, Jackson, and Vernon) inside 15 days of issuance. All non-urban residents of the affected counties, regardless of their allegiance, were forced to leave their farms and homes.

Those who could prove their loyalty to the Union were allowed to remain in the counties but required to move to communities near Union military outposts.

When inhabitants returned later near war's end, the town and much of the county as a whole had been burned, looted, and otherwise finished by regular Union forces, pro-Union Jayhawkers, and Kansas "Red Legs".

Seven years later, on April 7, 1879 Butler was reincorporated as a fourth-class city, with William Page serving as the first mayor. Numerous mills and grain elevators became part of the burgeoning Butler company improve through the 1870s, providing opportunities for encircling farms to process wool and various grains. Four large lights were mounted up on the Bates County courthouse, providing illumination for the downtown area.

After passage of a bond issue, assembly on the current Bates county courthouse began in 1901.

The eighty-by-one hundred five foot Romanesque-style structure was assembled of "Carthage stone" from southern Missouri at a total universal cost of $50,000 and was occupied in July, 1902. By the early 20th century Butler's company listings encompassed three banks, an opera home, four hotels, and a large number of general and specialty stores. In 2008 Bates county inhabitants erected a statue and plaque honoring the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers and the Battle of Island Mound on the grounds of the Bates County courthouse in Butler. The State of Missouri purchased a 40-acre property including part of the former Toothman homestead and established the "Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site" in October 2012. The Bates County Courthouse and Palace Hotel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 4.08 square miles (10.57 km2), of which, 4.07 square miles (10.54 km2) is territory and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km2) is water. Butler is considered a part of the Kansas City urbane area.

The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 94.5% White, 2.7% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.5% from other competitions, and 1.7% from two or more competitions.

There were 1,739 homeholds of which 29.7% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female homeholder with no husband present, 4.3% had a male homeholder with no wife present, and 40.7% were non-families.

24.1% of inhabitants were under the age of 18; 7.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.2% were from 25 to 44; 23.6% were from 45 to 64; and 20.9% were 65 years of age or older.

The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 95.65% White, 1.92% African American, 0.43% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other competitions, and 1.05% from two or more competitions.

There were 1,723 homeholds out of which 29.2% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female homeholder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families.

In the town/city the populace was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older.

Randy Pike, Missouri state legislator, was born in Butler.

"Butler region history".

Bates County government via website.

"Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015".

Historic maps of Butler in the Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection at the University of Missouri Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site Missouri Department of Natural Resources Municipalities and communities of Bates County, Missouri, United States County seats in Missouri

Categories:
Cities in Bates County, Missouri - County seats in Missouri - 1852 establishments in Missouri - Populated places established in 1852