West Quincy is a small commercial area in northeastern Marion 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 ...

, United States, on U.S. Route 24. It has no permanent residents.

History

West Quincy 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 1874, and named for its location west of

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ) is a city in Adams County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Mississippi River, the population was 39,463 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 40,633 in 2010. The Quincy, Illinois, mic ...

. It is the location of the Lock and Dam No. 21 Historic District, 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 2004. West Quincy is directly across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

from

and once housed a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy train station, drive-in theater, and corporation. However, since the Great Flood of 1993, many businesses have left. The Knapheide corporation headquarters was formerly located in West Quincy, but it has relocated its main location to northern Quincy, Illinois. However, an active Knapheide facility still remains in West Quincy to this day. A

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

hit the drive-in theater and nearly crossed to Quincy but receded once it hit the bluffs. During the flood of 1993, the

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

was sabotaged and water filled the floodplain, and a nearby barge was sucked into the break in the levee. It hit a local gas station and caused an explosion. Oil caught fire and the fire snaked across the water before it extinguished itself. All of the Quincy bridges—the only links across the river from Missouri to Illinois for 200 miles—were closed. One bridge, the Bayview Bridge, was closed for 71 days.Floods in Missouri Prevent Border Crossing for Miles
Weekend Edition,

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, 1993-07-17. This forced residents to drive to St. Louis or

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000 United States Census, 2000. Burlington ...

, fly or take a ferry to get across the river. A man from the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

side of the river, James Scott, was convicted of causing the flood and was sentenced to life in prison. Today, West Quincy is home to a number of gas stations that largely serve consumers from Quincy. Missouri's lower state taxes on gasoline and cigarettes are the primary draw, as are the seasonal fireworks tents that spring up in the area during the summer. A number of other small businesses, including a pawn shop, a bank, and a number of car dealerships also operate in West Quincy.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Marion County, Missouri Hannibal, Missouri micropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Missouri