Pocahontas, Missouri Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Pocahontas, Missouri
Village
Pocahontas at dusk
Location of Pocahontas, Missouri
Country	United States
State	Missouri
County	Cape Girardeau
Area
• Total	0.10 sq mi (0.27 km²)
• Land	0.10 sq mi (0.27 km²)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Elevation	584 ft (178 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	97
• Density	1,019.42/sq mi (393.71/km²)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	63779
Area code(s)	573
FIPS code	29-58628

Pocahontas is a village in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. The population was 97 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Name
History
Geography
Demographics
- 2010 census
Classification
Photo gallery
See also

Name

Tradition has that Samuel Green opened a post office and started the town, and was required by the government to provide a name for the town. Samuel Green had fallen in love with a princess of the Shawnee and Delaware tribes living along Apple Creek, but she had left the region along with the Shawnee and Delaware when they moved west. Green intended to name the town after this woman whom he longed for. Unfortunately, the name of this princess was difficult to pronounce and nearly as impossible to spell, so when registering the town’s name, Green instead decided to substitute his love’s name for the name of a historic Indian princess Pocahontas, of colonial Virginia fame.

History

The early inhabitants of the area were the Mississippian Mound Builders, who were part of the Mississippian culture. The Mound Builders went into decline in the 12th and 13th centuries, resulting in a depopulation of the area. In the later part of the 18th century French and Spanish officials allowed the immigration of Shawnee and Delaware Indians from Ohio. In the 1820s these Indians were moved further west, with only a few remaining behind. The last of the Indians to stay were removed from the area in 1857.

Early American settlers to the area were the Abernathy and Little families who farmed the land around present-day Pocahontas. Samuel Green, an Englishman, purchased land from Joseph Abernathy and operated the Green Station general store and post office. The Applecreek Presbyterian Church was established in 1869. Around 1858 German and Austrian immigrants began to settle around Pocahontas. St. John Iowa Synod Lutheran Church was founded in 1870, and in 1889 Zion Lutheran Church Missouri Synod was built. It was incorporated as a town in 1893. A flour mill was constructed by John Hatcher and today the mill is still operated as the Bowman Milling Company. A public school and two Lutheran parochial schools were also established. The town was also once home to four stores, several shops, a planning mill and lumber yard.

Geography

Pocahontas is located at 37°30′4″N 89°38′19″W / 37.50111°N 89.63861°W / 37.50111; -89.63861 (37.501194, -89.638498).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.10 square miles (0.26 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	47	—
1900	100	—
1910	125	25.0%
1920	156	24.8%
1930	115	−26.3%
1940	119	3.5%
1950	130	9.2%
1960	128	−1.5%
1970	127	−0.8%
1980	130	2.4%
1990	90	−30.8%
2000	127	41.1%
2010	114	−10.2%
2020	97	−14.9%
U.S. Decennial Census 2020

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 114 people, 44 households, and 30 families living in the village. The population density was 1,140.0 inhabitants per square mile (440.2/km²). There were 52 housing units at an average density of 520.0 per square mile (200.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.12% White and 0.88% Black or African American.

There were 44 households, of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.8% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.00.

The median age in the village was 41 years. 22.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.5% were from 25 to 44; 30.7% were from 45 to 64; and 14% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 50.9% male and 49.1% female.

Classification

Under Missouri Revised Statute 72-050 [1], towns with populations under 500 at the time of passage (1939) were declared to be villages. Having been incorporated in 1893 [2], Pocahontas was unaffected by this statute, and is classified as a town despite its small population.