Frankclay

HISTORY OF FRANKCLAY, MISSOURI

Sago Store/Conoco Station, Frankclay, Missouri (circa 1930's)
Courtesy of Nedra Queen

Frankclay, also called Claytown, is located west of Leadwood. Its name is derived from the owner of the property from which the town was made, Frank E. Clay. It was organized about 1900.

This article was originally published in the Farmington News and was reprinted in THE POTOSI JOURNAL, Potosi, Washington Co. MO, Wed. May 31, 1905, page 1,THE NEW TOWN OF FRANKCLAY

Frankclay is the name of a new postoffice recently established at what has heretofore been known as Clay Place in the Owl Creek country [St. Francois Co. MO.] The name of Frankclay is in honor of Frank E. Clay, who laid off and sold the lots on which the town now stands. There isn't much of a town at Frankclay yet, but there's going to be--well, a city, perhaps.

Already houses are scattering all over the Owl Creek country, which includes Owl Creek proper, Huffman, Frankclay, Cherryville and a number of other clusters of houses, and several thousand people are now there and houses cannot be built fast enough to accomodate the incoming people.

Here it is that the St. Joseph Lead company has erected the finest lead mill in the world, a picture of which was recently given in this paper. This country is considered by many as the cream of the lead belt, as far as mineral in paying quantity is concerned.

A spur from the main line of the M.R. & B.T. railroad has been built to the lead mines and the mixed train which is run between there and Bonne Terre does a good passenger business as well as transports many tons of as fine ore as ever went to a smelter. We predict that this will be a great country some day--in fact, it's that now.--Farmington News.

THE POTOSI JOURNAL, Potosi, Washington Co. MO, Wed. May 17, 1905, page 1
Irondale news column:

A new postoffice has been established at Claytown. The name of the office is "Frankclay," and F. T. Westlund has been appointed postmaster.

The following facts are borrowed from the book "The Early Days of Leadwood" by Nedra Queen:

The town of Frankclay is located less than a mile west of Leadwood, and was first called Claytown. The Postal Department said it was too much like Clayton, Mo., so therefore the name was changed to Frankclay, Mo. Franklin Eleazer Clay who once owned the land founded the town. As early as 1861 Franklin was farming on this section of land. Franklin Clay taught school for several years in his early manhood, afterwards and for the greater part of his life he devoted himself to farming. Franklin E. Clay died in 1917 and is buried in the Clay Cemetery.

Frankclay was an active little town in the earlier years with quite a few different types of business places, including ice cream parlor, barber shop, grocery stores, post office, dry goods store, blacksmith shop, garage, churches, saloon and its own school.

Published in a BRIEF AUTHENTIC HISTORY OF ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY, MISSOURI. Compiled by J. Tom Miles, A.M. and Published in The Farmington News in Ten Chapters September 13 to November 15, 1935. Printed in booklet form through the courtesy of J. Clyde Akers, County Superintendent of Schools.