Rich Hill is a city in southern Bates County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

, and is part of the

Kansas City metropolitan area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

within the United States. The population was 1,232 at the 2020 census.

History

Rich Hill was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1880. The city was named in 1871 by C.W. Ratekin and used the slogan "The Town That Coal Built". The town experienced a rapid population expansion during the late 1800s, until mining efforts began to decline and eventually ended in 1906. The mining effort was renewed by

Peabody Energy Peabody Energy is a coal mining company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its primary business consists of the mining, sale, and distribution of coal, which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking. Peabody also marke ...

in the 1950s. The Prairie View Stock Farm was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2015.

Geography

Rich Hill is located on

Missouri Route A A supplemental route is a state secondary road in the U.S. state of Missouri, designated with letters. Supplemental routes were various roads within the state which the Missouri Department of Transportation was given in 1952 to maintain in addi ...

adjacent to the west side of

US Route 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Intersta ...

eleven miles south of

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

. The Bates- Vernon county line is 2.5 miles to the south. The upper reaches of the

Truman Reservoir The Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir, also known as Truman Lake, is located in the state of Missouri, United States. It is located between Clinton and Warsaw, on the Osage River and extends south to Osceola. The dam is located in Benton C ...

are two miles east on the

Marais des Cygnes River The Marais des Cygnes River ( , ) is a principal tributary of the Osage River, about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 in eastern Kansas and western Miss ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 1,396 people, 567 households, and 351 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 701 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population. There were 567 households, of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.1% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.11. The median age in the city was 41 years. 27.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.8% were from 25 to 44; 27.2% were from 45 to 64; and 17% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.4% male and 52.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,461 people, 617 households, and 391 families living in the city. The

was. There were 727 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.33%

, 0.14%

, 1.37% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.21% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.82% of the population. There were 617 households, out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were

living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.00. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $22,964, and the median income for a family was $28,938. Males had a median income of $25,476 versus $15,978 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,356. About 16.0% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 25.5% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

KLM Telephone Company, a rural telephone company, serves the area. Its owner, Fastwyre, is based in

Blair, Nebraska Blair is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,990 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Blair is a part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, Omaha-Council Bluffs Me ...

Education

Public education in Rich Hill is administered by Rich Hill R-IV School District. Rich Hill has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, the Rich Hill Memorial Library. Metropolitan Community College has the Rich Hill school district area in its service area, but not its in-district taxation area.

Transportation

Intercity bus service to the city is provided by

Jefferson Lines Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States. History The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...

Pop Culture

The city was featured in the 2014 documentary, '' Rich Hill''. The film premiered at the

2014 Sundance Film Festival The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Utah, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opene ...

, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for a documentary.

References

External links

* Historic maps of Rich Hill in th
Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection
at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

{{authority control Cities in Bates County, Missouri Cities in Missouri