Handy is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in the northwest corner of Ripley County, in the U.S. state of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

History

A post office called Handy was established in 1913, and remained in operation until 1954. The community's name most likely is derived from the last name of Noah Haney, a local merchant. A

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

maintains the townspeople wrote to postal officials requesting a post office, adding "it sure would be handy".

References

Unincorporated communities in Ripley County, Missouri Unincorporated communities in Missouri {{RipleyCountyMO-geo-stub