Lamine Township is one of 14

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England, New York, and Wisconsin to re ...

s in Cooper County, in the U.S. state of

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. Twenty-two of Missouri's 114 counties, including Cooper County, hav
civil township governments
The other 92 counties have townships which are geographical but not governmental (civil). According to the 1860 Census, the population of Lamine Township wa
830 (524 whites, 306 slaves)
As of the 2020 Census, Lamine Township's population was 257. The township takes its name from the

Lamine River The Lamine River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. It is formed in northern ...

. The only town in the Lamine Township is the unincorporated community of Lamine.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, Lamine Township covers an area of 40.86 square miles (105.83 square kilometers); of this, 39.5 square miles (102.31 square kilometers, 96.67 percent) is land and 1.36 square miles (3.52 square kilometers, 3.33 percent) is water.

History

On June 8, 1804 the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

traveling on the Missouri River arrived at the mouth of the

LaMine River The Lamine River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. It is formed in northern ...

in what would come to be known as the Lamine Township. LaMine was settled in 1811 by Revolutionary War veteran David Jones (1761-1838), his son-in-law Stephen Turley (1786-1851), Jesse B. Turley (1801-1861), Samuel Turley (1790-1870), Thomas McMahan (1786-1859), James McMahan (1789-1857), son-in-law William Reid (1774-1854), and Saunders Townsend. At that time, Missouri was still known as the Louisiana Territory but would be renamed as the "

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southea ...

" in 1812 with St. Louis as its capital. In 1812 or 1813 William McMahan's Fort was built in the Lamine Township on the south side of the Missouri River two miles down river from Arrow Rock near the mouth of the Lamine River about five miles west o
Cooper's Fort
which was on the north side of the Missouri River. McMahan's Fort burned down in 1814 and the settlers resorted to Cooper's Fort for protection. On March 2, 1819 John Potter was appointed constable of Lamine Township by the Cooper County Court. On April 9, 1821 Bryant T. Nolan was appointed constable of the Lamine Township by the Cooper County Court. On August 10, 1821, the

was admitted to the Union as the State of Missouri. The first will probated by Cooper County was that of Thomas McMahan, a resident of the Lamine Township in 1821. Thomas_McMahan_House_Lamine_Missouri

1823 Stephen Turley Tax Collector of Cooper County Missouri from the Missouri Intelligencer 23Dec1823p3

In 1823 Stephen Turley of Lamine was a tax collector for Cooper County. Th
1877 plat map of Cooper County
shows that Thomas Mellor operated a distillery in the northwest quadrant o
section 35
where the Lamine River flows into the Missouri River. 1877 location of Thomas Mellor Distillery in Lamine Missouri Township 49 50N Range 18W

1877 location of Thomas Mellor Distillery in Lamine Missouri Township 49 50N Range 18W

Turley Ferry and Turley Bridge. On March 2, 1819 Stephen Turley was granted a license to operate Turley's Ferry across the Lamine River. In 1885, Cooper County built with a budget of $16,000 an iron bridge with stone piers at the Lamine River crossing known as "Turley's Ferry." However, 20 years later the 1885 Turley Bridge was destroyed in the flood of September 17, 1905 and was summarily described as having "floated off its supports." The Kansas City Bridge Company was commissioned to build a 2-span Parker-truss style replacement bridge which was opened on March, 1907. Twenty-one years later in 1928 in another major flood Turley Bridge was "badly shaken" but survived when a very large tree rammed into it. In 1932 the modification of Highway 41 included replacing Turley Bridge but repositioning it a bit eastward downstream (less than one-tenth of a mile) in a "prairie section" to mitigate high flood water damage. The 6-span, 522 feet and 8 inches Turley Bridge #K0236, under the commission of Carrothers and Crouch of Kansas City and after delays involving under water encounters with the old 1885 bridge truss that had been destroyed in the 1905 flood and with a stubborn narrow vein of coal, was opened in December, 1933 an
replaced in 2014
Meanwhile, one span of the old 1907 bridge was sold in 1938 to Boone County, Missouri and placed on Moon Valley Road

Hinkson Creek Hinkson Creek is a stream in Boone County in the U.S. state of Missouri. Its middle section runs through the city of Columbia, Missouri It was named after Robert Hinkson, a pioneer citizen who lived along its banks. Several trails, conservation ar ...

Trail A second span was positioned across the

Petite Saline Creek Petite Saline Creek is a stream in Cooper, Moniteau and Morgan counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is a tributary of the Missouri River. The stream source area is along the Morgan-Moniteau county line just north of U.S. Route 50 two mile ...

nea
Gooch's Mill
Turley Bridge Main Span east side facing west MODOT

La Mine Post Office. U.S. Postmasters appointed to the La Mine post office include: Freeman Wing (1838), Nelson Church (1842), Freeman Wing (1849), John W. McMahan (1856), William P. McMahan (1862), William N. McMahan (1866), Samuel W. Walton (1869), Daniel Folek (1871), John Redd (1872), Redd's Store (1888), William H. Ricks (1889), John B. Harris (1893), William Karm (1897), Guy M. Schuster (1902), Moritz Schuster (1908), Pearl E. Schuster (1913), Nannie M. McClain (1917), Harry Turley (1921), Pearl E. Schuster (1922), Guy M. Schuster (1922), Carson J. Shillicorn (1928), Guy M. Schuster (1929), Virginia E. Vaughan (1930), Virginia E. Vaughan (1931), Lillian Lovell (1941). The La Mine post office was renamed "Lamine" on October 1, 1924. It was discontinued on November 30, 1956 and its postal responsibilities were assigned to Boonville. Circa 1900 Lamine Missouri Locust Grove Elementary School Photo

Circa 1900 Lamine Missouri Locust Grove Elementary School Photo

Locust Grove School, Lamine. Locust Grove Elementary School serviced the Lamine community from the late 1800s through to the middle 1900s when the primary school functions were transferred to the Blackwater R-2 School District.

Hopewell Indian Settlements

There are two known Hopewell Indian Settlements in the Lamine township: the Mellor settlement and the Imhoff settlement (100-300 A.D.). Arrow Hopewell Imhoff

The Mellor settlement, known as Site 23CP1, is at the confluence of the

with the Missouri River on the personal property known as "Cape Verde" owned in the early 1900s by Thomas Edward Mellor and then by his son John Paul Mellor. "At least 20 large earthen burial mounds overlook the Mellor settlement from the north-facing Missouri River escarpment." The Imhoff settlement is about one-half mile downstream from the confluence of the

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black tea ...

with the Lamine River. These two settlements were excavated in the 1970s by archaeologist Marvin Kay and the findings were published in the Missouri Archaeological Society Research Series in 1980.

Unincorporated towns

* Lamine at (There are no other towns in Lamine Township.)

Adjacent townships

* Boonslick Township, Howard County (northeast) * Boonville Township, Cooper County (east) * Pilot Grove Township, Cooper County (south) * Blackwater Township, Cooper County (southwest) * Blackwater Township, Saline County (west) * Arrow Rock Township, Saline County (northwest)

Cemeteries

The township contains at least the following cemeteries: *

William Henry Ashley William Henry Ashley (c. 1778 – March 26, 1838) was an American miner, land speculator, manufacturer, territorial militia general, politician, frontiersman, fur trader, entrepreneur, hunter, and slave owner. Ashley was best known for being th ...

br>Burial Site (where the Lamine and Missouri rivers meet)

Herndon Family Cemetery

Higgerson Family Cemetery

Hoke Family Cemetery

Old Lamine Cemetery
at
Samuel McMahan Family Cemetery

Thomas McMahan, Jr. Family Cemetery

Thomas McMahan, Sr. Family Cemetery

Schuster Family Cemetery

Turley Family Cemetery
at
William Reid Family Cemetery
at

Major highways

Missouri Route 41 Route 41 is a highway in central Missouri. Its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 24 in southern Carroll County; its southern terminus is at Interstate 70/U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main ...