Chariton 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 northeast Putnam 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 ...

History

A post office called Chariton was established in 1883 and remained in operation until 1907. The community takes its name from the nearby

Chariton River The Chariton River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 26, 2011 tributary to the Missouri River in southeast Iowa and northeast Missouri. The river forms in southe ...

Geography

Chariton is on Missouri Route DD two miles east of Missouri Route 149. The Missouri-

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

border is one mile north of the community. Unionville is approximately 15 miles to the southwest.

Notable people

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

, sculptor and dancer, lived on a farm in Chariton with his grandparents, where he would help take care of crops and chickens. * Ennis H. Gipson, third

Adjutant General of Oklahoma The Adjutant General of Oklahoma is the highest-ranking military official in the state of Oklahoma, subordinate only to the Governor of Oklahoma. The highest officer of the Oklahoma National Guard, the Adjutant General is the principal advisor to t ...

who also served on the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

. *

James Semple James Semple (January 5, 1798 – December 20, 1866) was an American attorney and politician. He was Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Attorney General of Illinois, an associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Chargé d'A ...

, politician from

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 ...

, moved to Chariton in 1819, operating a

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

in the area.

References

Unincorporated communities in Putnam County, Missouri Unincorporated communities in Missouri {{PutnamCountyMO-geo-stub