Belmont, Missouri

Belmont is a ghost town in Mississippi County, on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Missouri at the Mississippi River.[1] The GNIS classifies it as a populated place under the name "Belmont Landing".[2]

History

Belmont was platted in 1853, and named after August Belmont, a businessman interested in the site.[1] A post office called Belmont Landing was in operation from 1867 until 1869, and a post office called Belmont from 1869 until 1923.[3]

Belmont was the scene of a Civil War battle, the Battle of Belmont in 1861.[4] The community lends its name to the Columbus-Belmont State Park, a Civil War site across the Mississippi River in Hickman County, Kentucky.[5]

After the Reconstruction era, whites asserted their dominance, often by violence and intimidation. In May 1905, a mob of 200 to 300 whites lynched Tom Witherspoon, aka Robert Pettigrew, an African-American man, for alleged kidnapping and threats against a white man.[6][7] This event took place during an era of increased violence by whites against blacks due to economic problems and social tensions. A series of floods (1912, 1922, and 1937) inundated the town of Belmont, particularly the 1937 flood. Many people moved away after this destruction and the town became abandoned; the post office closed in 1923.[1]

References
  1. "Mississippi County Place Names, 1928–1945". The State Historical Society of Missouri. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Belmont Landing
  3. "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  4. Earngey, Bill (1995). Missouri Roadsides: The Traveler's Companion. University of Missouri Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-8262-1021-0.
  5. Reigler, Susan (May 1, 2011). The Complete Guide to Kentucky State Parks. University Press of Kentucky. p. 236. ISBN 0-8131-3912-0.
  6. Map of White Supremacy mob violence, 1835 - 1964, Monroe Work Today
  7. Danny Lewis, "This Map Shows Over a Century of Documented Lynchings in the United States", Smithsonian Magazine, 27 January 2017; accessed 12 April 2018

36.7664457°N 89.1217338°W / 36.7664457; -89.1217338


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