Cato 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 Barry County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. The community is located on Missouri Route 39 in the

Mark Twain National Forest Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF) is a U.S. National Forest located in the southern half of Missouri, composed of nine disconnected parcels. MTNF was established on September 11, 1939. It is named for author Mark Twain, a Missouri native. The ...

, approximately ten miles east-northeast of Cassville.

History

A post office called Cato was established in 1895, and remained in operation until 1958. The community was named after Cato, a local Native American. Cato is mentioned in the 1960 film "Elmer Gantry."

References

Unincorporated communities in Barry County, Missouri Unincorporated communities in Missouri {{BarryCountyMO-geo-stub