St. James is a city in Phelps County,

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 3,920 at the 2020 census. St James Missouri water tower

History

The settlement was originally known as Big Prairie because of its location on the natural prairie of that name in the area. In 1859, when a man by the name of John Wood anticipated the extension of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, the settlement became known for a short time as Scioto, named after the town of Scioto, Ohio, where many of the town's early settlers originated. In 1860, the town was named St. James to honor Thomas James, who came from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and created the Meramec Iron Works. The town was intended as a shipping point for the Meramec Iron Works, which had been shipping its products by wagon train. St. James was the part-time home of Lucy Wortham James, a wealthy philanthropist who had a love for the area. She was a descendant of Thomas James, a Chillicothe banker who founded the Maramec Iron Works. The James Foundation, a charitable organization she founded, was responsible for the St. James City Park and the James Memorial Library, as well as Maramec Spring Park. The City of St. James now owns both the park and the public library. Mayme Ousley, the first woman elected mayor of a town in Missouri, was first elected mayor of St. James in 1921. The city hall was named after her in 2013. The Maramec Iron Works District, St. James Chapel, and Verkamp Shelter are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

St. James is located in the foothills of the

Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

at (37.998848, −91.616386). 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 , of which is land and is water.

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 4,216 people, 1,632 households, and 1,029 families residing 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 1,767 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.11%

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 ...

, 0.95%

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 ...

, 0.66% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.38% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.57% of the population. There were 1,632 households, of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.4% 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, 18.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.9% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age in the city was 37 years. 27.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.5% were from 25 to 44; 22.3% were from 45 to 64, and 18.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.

Economy

Tacony Corporation Tacony Corporation is a family-owned and operated manufacturer and wholesale distributor of vacuum cleaners, sewing machines, ceiling fans, and commercial floor care equipment based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri. History In 194 ...

manufactures Simplicity and Riccar vacuum cleaners in St. James.

Education

Public education in St. James is administered by St. James R-I School District. St. James 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 ...

, the James Memorial Library.

Arts and culture

St. James is home to several award-winning wineries, including St. James Winery. It is also home to Maramec Spring Park. The Maramec Spring Park contains the fifth largest spring in the state. An average of 100 million gallons of water flows from the Spring daily. Maramec Spring Park contains 1,860 acres of forest and fields. The 200-acre public use area of the park provides many amenities and activities for visitors such as a cafe, store, camping, wildlife viewing, fish feeding, picnicking, shelters, playgrounds and fishing. The Meramec River, a clear calm Ozark stream, flows through the park providing excellent fishing. The park is open year-round to the public. A daily entry fee is required to enter the park from mid-February through October. Annual passes may be purchased at the park.

Maramec Spring Maramec Spring is located on the Meramec River near St. James in the east-central Ozarks of Missouri. The fifth largest spring in the state with an average discharge of of water per second, it is part of a Karst topographical area, with man ...

Park is privately owned and operated by The James Foundation.

Media

The ''St. James Leader-Journal'' was the Voice of St. James since 1896 and was in continual operation for a longer period of time than any other business in the St. James City Limits, until it was closed on July 13, 2016. The weekly newspaper was owned by

GateHouse Media GateHouse Media Inc. was an American publisher of locally based print and digital media. It published 144 daily newspapers, 684 community publications, and over 569 local-market websites in 38 states. Its parent company, New Media Investment Group ...

. ''The Leader-Journal'' was a sister paper of '' The Rolla Daily News'' and the '' Waynesville Daily Guide''. ''The Guide'' closed in 2018 and the ''Daily News'' was merged into the ''Phelps County Focus'' in 2021.

References

External links

Site for the City of St James and Chamber of Commerce

Site for Local News
* Historic maps of St. James in th
Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection
at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James, Missouri Cities in Phelps County, Missouri Cities in Missouri