Uniontown 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 ...
located in
Union Township in southeastern
Perry County,
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 ...
, United States. It is situated on
U.S. Route 61
U.S. Route 61 or U.S. Highway 61 (U.S. 61) is a major United States highway that extends between New Orleans, Louisiana and the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River and is designate ...
, ten miles southeast of
Perryville.
Etymology
Uniontown was originally known as Paitzdorf, and was named after the same
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
in
Greiz
Greiz () is a town in the state of Thuringia, Germany, and is the capital of the district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia, east of state capital Jena, on the river '' White Elster''.
Greiz has a large park in its center (Fürs ...
county in
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
, Germany, from where many of the settlers originated. However, Paitzdorf became known as Uniontown during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
era, as it served as an encampment for Union soldiers. The Union soldiers could not pronounce the name of the town, and therefore referred to it as Uniontown.
History
Originally known as Paitzdorf, Uniontown is one of seven towns and villages in the area founded by the Rev. C. F. Gruber Auswanderung (Emigration) Group of
Saxon-German immigrants in 1839. Paitzdorf and the others --
Altenburg,
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
,
Frohna, Johannisberg,
Seelitz
Seelitz is a municipality in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is part of the administrative partnership based in the eponymous town.
Geography
The village of Seelitz is situated about 2 km south-east of Rochlitz and ...
, and
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...
—were all named by settlers after towns in the
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
region of their native country.
Community
Grace Lutheran Church serves the local population and is a member of the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
[A SHORT HISTORY AND SOME STATISTICS OF GRACE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CONGREGATION AT UNIONTOWN, PERRY CO., MO. http://www.lutheransonline.com/servlet/lo_ProcServ/dbpage=page&GID=20073437268641384901111555&PG=20083394741486876101111555]
References
Unincorporated communities in Perry County, Missouri
Unincorporated communities in Missouri
1839 establishments in Missouri
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