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Bismarck, situated in the western part of St. Francois County, owes its origin and
early growth to the farming interests about it and its location at the intersection of the
Belmont branch with the main line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway.
Bismarck was first laid out and surveyed in 1868. The owners of the property on which the
first survey was made were Charles T. Manter, Mary E. Manter, his wife, Philip R. Van
Frank, J. H. Worthy, and Frances Worthy, his wife, and E. H. Cordell. The railroad ran
through the town from the northwest to the southeast. All of the original streets of
Bismarck, with the exception of Main and Center, were named after trees. They were
Mulberry, Spruce, Cedar, Pine, Maple, Hazel, Cherry, Walnut and Elm.
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In 1877 Bismarck was incorporated as a town by the County Court and the first trustees were William H. Gullivan, Benjamin Schoch, C. C. Grider, George H. Kelly and A. H. Tegmeyer. In the year 1881 this incorporation was abolished. Since that time Bismarck has been reincorporated. The population about 1910 was 848. It is now about 1200.
