Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/340

 280 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI buildings, one of them — the high school build- ing — having been recently completed at a cost of $50,000. Besides its system of public schools the town is the seat of Carleton Col- lege and of Elmwood Seminary, accounts of both of which appear in the chapter on edu- cation. The town is also the seat of the state hospital No. 4 for the insane. This institution is one of the best equipped in the state. It is situated on beautiful and commodious grounds and the buildings are costly and convenient. The town is not on any line of railroad but is connected with the St. Louis & Iron Moiui- tain, and also with the Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railroad by the St. Francois County Interurban line, which was con- .striicted in 1905. The present population is 2,613. Marble Hill Marble Hill, which was selected as tho county seat of Bollinger county, was first named New California. It was laid off as a town in 1851 by Thomas Hamilton. The commissioners to choose the site of the county seat, who were David Ramsay, Isaac Shep- herd and J. J. Daugherty, selected this place and laid off a toii, including New California, which they named ' ' Dallas. ' ' They proceeded to mark out a place for the public square, and title to the town site was obtained from the owners of the land, who were Joseph Baker, Jacob Lutes, Daniel Grader and Thomas Ham- ilton. The first store in the town was eon- ducted by John C. Whybark. Some of the other early merchants were William Grimsey, Edward Wilson and George Clippard The first hotel was opened by Calvin Cook. The town was not incorporated imtil during the Civil war. Its name was then changed to ]Iarble Hill and Levy E. Whybark, F. J. Williams, J. J. Conrad, Lindsay Murdoch and J. J. Duffy were appointed as trustees for the town. The town has not grown very rapidly in recent years, but still has experienced a steady increase. Its present population is 313 ; it is supported by the farming community about it. The principal importance of the town lies in the fact that it is the county seat of the county and that it is the seat of the Will Mayfield College. The Bank of Marble Hill was chartered in 1905 and has a capital stock of $5,000. The town is situated on the top of a hill and is separated from Lutesville by Crooked creek. It is a pleasant place of residence and has a public schools system and churches of the Baptist, Methodist and Catho- lic denominations. The Marble Hill Press is a weekly newspaper published by Hill & Chandler. Lutesville The town of Lutesville is situated on the west side of Crooked creek, about a half mile from Marble Hill. It was laid out as a town in 1860 by Eli Lutes, in whose honor the town was named. In order to secure a station on the Belmont branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, JMr. Lutes gave to the railroad company ten acres of ground for station purposes, the right-of-way through the town, and one-third of the lots. The first merchant in town was C. E. Rowe, who began business in a small box house and continued until the time of his death. Eli Lutes was also one of the early merchants. The first mayor of the town was F. S. Traut- wein. There are now five general stores and the usual number of smaller business estab- lishments. There is one stave factory, which has been in operation for a number of years, and also a mill. The Bollinger County bank, with a capital of $25,000, was incorporated in 1891, and the Peoples' Bank of Lutesville, with a capital of $12,000 was iucoqiorated in 1903. Among the principal buildings are