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MANY SMALL TOWNS ADD TO FARMINGTON'S HISTORY The Daily Journal, Flat River, Mo., Monday, March 19, 1979

� ����������� A note in the history of Farmington should be made for Valley Forge.�

����������� It once was a small but industrialized area east of Farmington, which benefited from a choice spot on the Plank Road.� While there is little at the site today, Valley Forge was once a link in the Iron-hauling chain along the road.�

����������� Valley Forge was located on Plank Road at Wolf Creek.� It sprang into existence because of the ore trade from Iron Mountain to Ste. Genevieve.� There the wagons laden with pig iron from the mines to the southwest were unloaded and the ore melted into blooms.� From there, the blooms were taken to Ste. Genevieve, again on wagons, for shipment on the Mississippi River.�

����������� The smelter was on the east end of the community.� The town, consisting of little more than two rows of workers� houses running east and west, and, also had a school, store and flour mill.� That mill was the Giessing & Sons firm, which in 1896 moved to Farmington and became the Giessing Milling Co.� �

����������� The town was inhabited by employees of the mill and smelter.�

����������� Railroads brought the end to the community.� Completion of the St. Louis to Iron Mountain road ended the value of the community to the mining companies, and the settlement faded into its present state.�

����������� Delassus might have been the seat of St. Francois County government, had many people in the area had their way.� �

����������� The community which borders Farmington�s southwest side found itself in a constant controversy with Farmington over the Plank Road.� And one such controversy nearly brought a transfer a transfer of the government�s seat.�

����������� Delassus was laid out as a town in 1869 on property owned by Marie Jean B. DeLassus, the last of the Spanish rulers of Upper Louisiana.� �

����������� It was originally 24 � blocks, with two set aside for public use. � Four and one-half blocks were situated west of the Belmont branch railroad right of way.�

����������� The community appeared to have a bright future, strengthened by its location on the Belmont and the Plank Road, but merely became a shipping point for Doe Run and Farmington, its larger neighbors.�

����������� It was the Plank Road that brought Delassus its chance to become the county seat.�

����������� In the late 1870s, a toll gate on the Plank Road was erected in Farmington.� Much controversy was reported, centering in residents of Delassus and Libertyville.� As mentioned, two blocks of land had been set aside in Delassus, and some thought was given by disgruntled countians to moving the seat of government out of Farmington to the open area.�

����������� However, the toll gate question was solved, and Delassus� chance ended, by the closing of the Farmington gate.�

����������� Libertyville, in the midst of what was called Cook�s Settlement, is one of the oldest villages in southeast Missouri.� It was first located by Nathaniel Cook in 1797.� �

����������� Surveyed in 1870 by Zebulon Murphy, the town consisted of four irregular blocks.� The principal avenue was Second Street, running northwest to southeast.� The community was bordered by the Farmington-Jackson Road and the Ironton-St. Mary�s Road.�

����������� Properties of Salt gave Knob Lick its name.�

����������� Located seven miles south of Farmington, it was a point on the Belmont branch when surveyed in 1869 by William McDowell.� At that time, the town consisted of 11 irregular blocks.�

����������� The community was important because it served as a shipping point for the granite quarries located in the southern portions of the county.� Just west of Knob Lick is one of the granite peaks of the St. Francois mountains.�

����������� The hills provided an industry for the community, with the Syenite granite works providing much of the stone.� The quarry produced quality stone for W.R. Allen and Co.� Granite in the area was used for paving stones (cobblestones), buildings of various kinds (many county residents have contended the present county courthouse should have been built with native granite instead of limestone) and monumental blocks.�

����������� Electric Place was founded because of the county�s electrical railroad line.� It was also called Power House.�

����������� The electric railroad maintained a generating plant for direct current power to its inter-urban streetcars and built homes for its employees.� It was located on the southeast side of the present Mineral Area Osteopathic Hospital, roughly at the intersection of Electric Street and the Potosi Road.�

����������� The community was originally surveyed in 1907, and consisted of 9.94 acres of ground, with 23 lots.� The tracts had been owned by Marvin A. Young, C.B. Denman and Anna Denman.

Thanks goes out to Jeanne "Hunt" Nassaney for typing above article for us.

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