Brazeau (; ) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in southeastern

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.

Etymology

The community is named after the nearby

Brazeau Creek Brazeau Creek is a stream flowing through Perry County, Missouri and emptying into the Mississippi River. Name Brazeau Creek was named for Joseph (Jean) Brazeau (also spelled Obrazo) a merchant from St. Louis, Missouri in the years 1791–17 ...

, which in turn was named for Joseph Brazeau (also spelled Obrazo), a merchant from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri, in 1791–1799, or by a member of his family.

History

Some of the earliest Americans to put down roots in

were English and Scots-Irish

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

settlers from

Rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

, Iredell, Cabarrus, and

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

counties in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

who settled Brazeau in 1817. There, they opened land in the Brazeau Creek

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. In 1804, Brazeau was estimated to have had 88 inhabitants. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Brazeau was established on September 2, 1819, and a log church was erected. After a fire destroyed the log church in 1832, a new frame church was built in 1833 to replace the lost structure. A brick church, which is still in use, was built in 1854. An academy was established in the same year until public schools became prevalent in the 1880s. The people of Brazeau are said to have helped the Saxon-Lutheran immigrants from Germany during their first hard winter of 1839, saving them from possible starvation. The Brazeau Post Office operated from 1879 until its closing in 2011. The small town once boasted a general store, a bank, and a

John Deere Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, Transmission (mechanical device), transmi ...

dealership. Today, the small town is home to Hemmann Winery, established in 2003, which occupies the former general store.

Geography

Brazeau is located approximately southeast of Perryville and about north of

Cape Girardeau Cape Girardeau ( , ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540, making it the 17th-largest in the state. The city is one o ...

, as well as being about from 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 ...

Notable people

* Edward Robb (1857–1934), a U.S. Representative who was born in Brazeau and attended Brazeau Academy

Gallery

File:Brazeau, Missouri 1.jpg, Brazeau, Missouri File:Brazeau, Missouri, 3 school museum.jpg, School Museum File:Brazeau, Missouri, 5 blacksmith.jpg, Old Blacksmith shop File:Brazeau, Missouri, 7 Brazeau Hall.jpg, Brazeau Hall

References

Unincorporated communities in Perry County, Missouri Unincorporated communities in Missouri 1817 establishments in Missouri Territory {{PerryCountyMO-geo-stub