Menfro 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 northeastern

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. It is located northeast of Perryville.

Name

The town is said to have been named by St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad officials in 1904 "for the three men who were killed on the river, who were bringing in supplies for the railroad."

History

Menfro was established on a small portion of Levi Wiggin's land grant #1328. In January 1877, this small plot of land was subdivided by the Perry County Surveyor and eventually became known as the Town of Menfro. In September 1879, Valentine and Margaret Hoehn sold a portion of land grant #1328 to Frederick Moldenhauer. The Moldenhauer family still owns this tract of land which is home to the Moldenhauer Alfalfa

Mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

. Menfro began as a stop on the St. Louis, Memphis & South Eastern Railroad, which began construction on 22 September 1902, with the intention of linking Perry County with

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 ...

in time for the

1904 World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mi ...

. A post office was opened in 1904 (closed in 1996).

Floods

The Town of Menfro is located on

Cinque Hommes Creek Cinque Hommes Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River flowing through Perry County, Missouri. Name The early Colonial French name for the creek was "à la viande" or "with meat". Cinque Hommes Creek was named after Cape Cinque Hommes ...

, which is usually called "Menfro Creek" by the local population. Menfro Creek empties into 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 ...

just a mile (1.6k) downstream from the Town of Menfro. When the water level in the Mississippi River rises, the Menfro Creek runs backwards, taking in the rising water from the Mississippi. As such, when the Mississippi River floods, so does Menfro. Three major floods have affected Menfro (1943, 1973 and 1993). Each time, the Town of Menfro was destroyed. After the 1943 and

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

floods the town was rebuilt; however, after the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

flood the town did not recover.

Geography

Menfro is situated in the Mississippi River Valley within an alluvial flood plain called the Bois Brule Bottom. Being nestled between the limestone bluffs along the western edge of Bois Brule Bottom and Cinque Hommes Creek directly to the east has made Menfro susceptible to flooding.

Name

History

Floods

Geography

References

Further reading