History of Lincoln, Missouri

Sourced from local records

The area that became Lincoln was settled in the mid-1800s by pioneer families drawn to the rich farmland and clean water of central Missouri. Early settlers included Wiley Vincent, August Jaekel, Fred Boehmer, and Martin V. Athey, whose families helped shape the young community.

The Town of Lincoln was formally incorporated in 1869. In 1881 a railroad survey was completed through the area, opening Lincoln up to trade and travel and setting the stage for decades of steady growth. The first public school opened in 1889, and by the 1890s Lincoln had a school building, a hotel, and a growing Main Street.

Through the 1900s Lincoln developed the character residents know today — a working farm town anchored by City Hall, the school, and small family businesses along Main Street and Highway 65. The community's water tower, MFA elevator, and Cardinals athletics have all become landmarks passed from one generation to the next.

Today Lincoln remains a close-knit town of roughly 1,190 residents in Benton County. City Hall, the Lincoln R-II School District, the Lincoln Municipal Airport, and the annual Mozarkite Society Rock Swap continue the same tradition of neighbors taking care of neighbors that began more than 150 years ago.

Historical narrative adapted from the 125th Anniversary of Lincoln History book, 1995, by Florence Ransdell.

Lincoln, then

Photographs of the depot, the storefronts, the lunch counter and the people who kept them running — restored from prints held in the City Hall collection.

Steam locomotive at the Lincoln, Missouri railroad depot with workers on the platform — The Lincoln Depot
The Missouri Pacific depot — Sedalia 30 miles one way, Nasan 12 the other. The railroad put Lincoln on the map after the 1881 survey. Photograph donated by Kenneth Bird.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Four railroad workers with a hand car outside the Wells Fargo & Co. ticket office — Section crew & hand car
Wells Fargo & Co. Express and the ticket office, with the section crew and their hand car.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Townspeople standing on the boardwalk outside a Lincoln, Missouri storefront — Boardwalk on Main
Merchants, mail carriers and neighbors gathered on the boardwalk outside a Main Street store.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

The brick Brill & Wisdom Store on a dirt street in Lincoln, Missouri — Brill & Wisdom Store
One of Lincoln's early brick corner stores, back when Main Street was still dirt.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Interior of a Lincoln general store with shelves of goods and three clerks — Inside the general store
Leota (Kolb) Fischer, Laurence (Si) Henry and Vernie Atwood behind the counters.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Two women behind a soda fountain counter with a sandwich and pie menu board — The soda fountain
Ham sandwich a quarter, pie fifteen cents — the lunch counter downtown.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Wooden filling station with visible-glass gas pumps and a 1930s truck — The filling station
Visible-glass pumps, tire service, and a stake-bed truck pulled under the canopy.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Rural mail carrier on horseback leading a second horse loaded with mail sacks — Rural mail route
Before rural roads were graded, the mail rode out of Lincoln on horseback.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Five men on a loading dock at the feed store beside a horse-drawn dray wagon — The feed store dock
Sacks of feed loaded onto the dray wagon, teams hitched and waiting at the dock.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Attendant in overalls standing beside three visible-glass pumps at a Skelly gasoline station — Skelly Gasoline
Three pumps, a tire shop and a nickel Coca-Cola cooler out on the highway edge of town.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Aerial view of the Sinclair Incline station, cafe and highway curve outside Lincoln — Sinclair Incline
The Incline from the air — station, cafe and tourist court where the highway bends.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Lincoln High School band and majorettes posed on courthouse steps, Missouri State Fair Parade 1954 — Missouri State Fair Parade, 1954
The Lincoln High School band and majorettes on the steps before the State Fair parade — names of all five rows are printed on the original print.
Restored and enhanced using AI. Some details may be slightly altered — to view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

About these images: the archival photographs on this page have been restored and updated using AI. Some images may be slightly altered from the original prints. To view the originals, please visit Lincoln City Hall.

Places that shaped Lincoln

Present-day photographs of the places that carry Lincoln's story. Archival images — including the MFA elevator, the Gill Hotel, and the 1951 water tower — are preserved at City Hall and are being scanned for the web.

Downtown Lincoln, Missouri along Main Street — Main Street, downtown Lincoln

Main Street and Cardinal Drive street signs — Main St. & Cardinal Dr.

Lincoln, Missouri U.S. Post Office — U.S. Post Office · 65338

Old Pump Memorial with American and Missouri flags — Old Pump Memorial

Lincoln R-II School building — Lincoln R-II School

Mike Hare Memorial Ball Field sign with the Lincoln water tower — Mike Hare Memorial Ball Field

Lincoln Community Fire District building — Lincoln Community Fire District

In the City Hall archive

MFA Elevator
Atwood and Henry Store (1950s)
Highway Café (1940s)
Brill and Wisdom Store
Lincoln High School Band (1954)
Water Tower (1951–2006)
Gill Hotel (built 1892)
Lincoln High School (1894)
Airport Grant Officials
Old Gas Station