Altenburg is a city in

Perry County Perry County may refer to: United States *Perry County, Alabama *Perry County, Arkansas *Perry County, Illinois *Perry County, Indiana *Perry County, Kentucky *Perry County, Mississippi *Perry County, Missouri *Perry County, Ohio * Perry Cou ...

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. The population was 341 at the 2020 census.

History

Altenburg (German for "Old Castle") was laid out and

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 1839 by a colony of Lutherans. It was named after the

Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilometers and a populati ...

from where many of its settlers came, and not the city of

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

which does not seem to have sent a single colonist. Altenburg is one of seven towns and villages in the area founded by German Lutheran immigrants in 1839. Altenburg and the other communities—

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Frohna, Johannisberg,

Paitzdorf Paitzdorf is a German municipality in the Thuringian Landkreis of Greiz. It belongs to the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Ländereck. Geography Neighboring municipalities Communities near Paitzdorf are the City of Ronneburg and Rückersdorf in t ...

, Seelitz, and

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

—were all named by settlers for towns in the

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

region of their native country. These settlers would form the backbone of what would later become the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. Trinity Lutheran Church was established in 1839 in a log cabin, and was later replaced by a limestone, and then a frame church. Soon after arriving, the immigrants constructed a school in Altenburg. Made of native timber, this " Log Cabin College" introduced the new idea of a co-educational school, a rarity at the time. Today, Altenburg is home to the Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum, established in 1985. Tourists can explore several mid-19th century buildings that remain in the community as well as the Heritage Center's exhibition hall as well as the reading room and research library.

Geography

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 , all land.

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 352 people, 138 households, and 97 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 152 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.15%

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 ...

, 0.28%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, and 0.57% from two or more races. There were 138 households, of which 39.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.7% 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, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.7% were non-families. 26.8% 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 2.55 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age in the city was 37 years. 27% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.5% were from 25 to 44; 23% were from 45 to 64; and 13.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.6% male and 51.4% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 309 people, 126 households, and 86 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 140 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.35%

, and 0.65% from two or more races. There were 126 households, out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.9% were

living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.05. In the city the population was spread out, with 25.6% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 108.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $40,417, and the median income for a family was $46,136. Males had a median income of $33,125 versus $20,208 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 $19,174. None of the families and 5.0% of the population were living 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 no under eighteen and 13.0% of those over 64.

Education

Altenburg Public School District #48 operates one public elementary school, Altenburg Elementary School. Altenburg 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 ...

, a branch of the Riverside Regional Library.

Arts and culture

The East Perry Community Fair is held annually on the fair grounds each September.

Nearby communities

References

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